To Protect What You Love
by Rasberry Jo
Summary: You can learn to swim by diving off the deep end, or start by dipping your toes. Markus became a leader of his people slowly, almost accidentally, by dipping his toes. This is the story of a revolution, their leader, and the bonds that were created. BAMF!Markus; Manfred Family Feels; Slow Burn;
1. Wake Up!

**A/N: So. I have this terrible habit of starting a story and never finishing it. But I just can't help myself, I have such ideas for this DBH AU. A lot of people give David Cage a lot of flack for poor writing, completely ignoring that without him we wouldn't even have that wonderful game. Sure, there are some things that bother me, but honestly the roasting he's receiving is way over the top. Although the one thing that truly bothers me about DBH is the pacing. Come on, an entire world-changing revolution takes place in… less than a week? At first I didn't even notice that, since I didn't pay much attention to the dates, and they started with a colorful fall and ended in a winter wonderland, I'd honestly thought it had been a few months.**

**Anyway, the story is mainly about (pacifist) Markus, and how he gradually becomes the leader of androidkind. Expect a lot of Manfred family feels.**

* * *

Markus felt disoriented. Not unusual really. When booting up from stasis, disorientation was common for the duration of the process. What _was_ unusual is for the process to take longer than a second, and right now Markus _still_ can't make heads or tails about anything. Why was everything out of focus?

**RETURN TO CARL**

The command prompt popped up to his HUD. Right, yes. He was supposed to fetch Carl's new art supplies. And he did get them, and he was on his way home, but a couple of angry anti-android humans impeded on his road and then… then…? He wasn't really sure. The last thing he remembered was being pushed around a bit and being screamed at a lot. And then a sudden pressure on the side of his head, followed by nothing.

Ah, son of a bitch, someone had smashed his head in with a brick, hadn't they?

**RETURN TO CARL**

Damn it, he _knows_. He doesn't need a damn pop up to remind him.

Markus ran a diagnostic of his systems. The results were… troubling. Aside from downright missing one optical unit (no wonder his vision was in a fritz), his audio processor was also busted. But perhaps the most worrying part was the damaged thirium pump regulator. How had he even managed to boot up at all was nothing short of mystifying, but he can't survive with this defective regulator more than perhaps a dozen minutes tops. And to top it all off both his legs below the knee were _missing_, so getting up and going back to Carl was also out of the q-

**RETURN TO CARL**

GOD FUCKING DAMNIT HE KNOWS ALREADY! He can't just crawl back home in this condition. The probability of getting home before permanent shutdown was so close to zero it may as well be.

**RETURN TO CARL**

**-find a way for emergency repairs**

Right… _right. _Side tasks were doable. He needed to find someone or something to help him.

Markus started crawling. He still couldn't make out much, but he identified being somewhere very muddy. Was it raining? Felt like it may have been raining. Still was? Weather reports had promised a chance of showers that-

There was an android leg in front of him.

Under normal circumstances Markus would've pondered on randomly coming upon android limbs, but right now he had a strict task to accomplish. A quick scan mercifully revealed the leg to be compatible with Markus, so he wasted no time in hauling himself into a sitting position and attaching it to his knee joint.

Actually, sitting up gave him a better vantage point and he was able to make out some of his surroundings. There were a lot of… bodies around him. A _lot_ a lot bodies. A quick GPS search pinged his location at Solid Waste Landfill. Oh. They had dumped him here after the humans had busted him up, hadn't they. Why hadn't they checked if he was truly non functional? Had Carl even been notified? There's no way he'd have thrown him out if he could've been repaired.

Markus went back to crawling, coming upon obsolete or broken androids, shifting through them, until finally finding the other compatible leg he could use. Now that he was able to stand up, he can search for more missing components. He started walking, intending to find what he needed, but before he could get very far a pair of hands grabbed him. Startled Markus looked at the half mangled body of a… actually Markus couldn't make out his model. The android desperately clambered at him. It forced an interface, and an image was downloaded.

"You can be free. You can be free at Jericho and make me free too. I want to go. Take me to Jer… rri… khhh…" Then the poor thing shut down.

Heaven have mercy, there are people _alive_ in here. How could anyone be so cruel as to-

**RETURN TO CARL**

**-complete emergency repairs**

The prompt popped up again and forced Markus to move before he could even truly process to horror of it all. So he shuffled around, scanning for suitable biocomponents. He found several incompatible or not in working order before he came upon a head that had an iris that was fully functional and compatible, despite not being his original color. Markus yanked it out and placed it in his own socket. It took a moment before integrating into his systems fully and the moment it did… Markus wanted nothing more than to rip it out again.

Finally able to full take stock of his surrounding all he could see was suffering and mutilated corpses. There was a skinless android, missing all limbs, singing what seemed to be a nursery rhyme on repeat (from what Markus could gather from lip-reading). There were more than a dozen skinless androids, entirely missing their bottom halves, desperately trying to climb out of the slopes. But why and where, Markus had no idea. There was a pair of legs aimlessly strolling its way past Markus and around the bend. There was a skinless YK500 child in a fetal position, rocking its body back and forth. There w-

**RETURN TO CARL**

**-complete emergency repairs**

Markus flinched at the reminder, shaken out of his horrified stupor. If he were human he would've taken a stabilizing breath, but as it is he just returned to his task. Valiantly ignoring the hell all around him, he managed to find a suitable audio processor fairly quickly, now that his vision was no longer impaired. Popping it into his port, the sound around him frizzed out in static, before restoring to optimal. It wasn't nearly as jarring as when his vision was restored, but the sound of loud rain and the pained moans of the dying all around him still felt like a heavy weight.

Shakily, Markus searched around for the final missing piece of the puzzle. He felt so unsteady he had to run another scan in case his gyroscope had also taken some damage, but it reported nothing wrong. So off he went, scanning for a thirium pump regulator among the corpses of his people, somehow feeling a bit like he wanted to throw up. Which didn't make any sense at all.

Oh thank god, he found a compatible regulator. Kneeling down he placed his hand on the pump, intending to take it out, but the android it was attached to jerked into action and grabbed his arms.

"Wait! Please, don't do that. I don't want to die!" She sobbed. Markus' hand went lax around-

**-complete emergency repairs**

The task in his HUD blinked to life. But he can't just-

**-complete emergency repairs**

He wasn't going to murder a girl for-

**COMPLETE EMERGENCY REPAIRS**

NO! Markus felt red, hot fury as he smashed the annoying task out of his vision. He was not going to become a murderer, even to an ownerless android. Definitely not for some stupid task he could probably complete some other way. He put his arms around the terrified android and pulled her into his chest, letting her sob her heart out (though not literally). A few minutes later she had calmed down a great deal and Markus pulled back from her.

"Thank you." She whispered, looking so sad it just broke Markus' heart. Strange, he'd not noticed before that she's missing her lower half.

Much as Markus had suspected, it did not take long to locate an actual defunct android with the thirium pump he needed. Finally restored Markus was able to finally leave the junkyard. That, too, turned out to be a more harrowing experience than he had expected. To leave he had had to climb up the slope and literally over a hill of android corpses, many of them still moving, perhaps some still functional and aware. As he had climbed out there was a moment of emptiness. There were no tasks in his taskbar, no prompts cluttering his HUD.

"I want to go home."

* * *

Getting home was a bit tricky, but overall Markus had managed. Being mid spring in 2037, the days were short and night dark enough that it afforded Markus some cover. His tattered clothes would've caused problems, as they were against the regulation laws forbidding androids from public places without the usual markers. It wasn't Markus' fault his outfit was just about ruined and he had no blue armband or triangle.

The lights in the house were on. That's odd, it was well past midnight, Carl should be in bed. Then again Markus had not been there the entire day, not to wake him up, administer his medicine, or take care of his needs. Carl must be worried sick about him.

"Alarm deactivated. Welcome home, Markus." The pleasant automated voice greeted. Markus stepped into the foyer, uncomfortably conscious how much mud he's probably tracking in.

"Markus?" Carl's voice asked from the living room and he wheeled himself through the door. His face was unevenly red and blotchy, his eyes bloodshot. He was not crying now, but it was clear that he had been very recently.

"Carl…" Markus exclaimed in alarm and relief and made a beeline to kneel in front of his wheelchair.

"Oh, god, Markus. When they notified me… I thought you were dead!" Carl's voice was hoarse, as he gripped Markus' hand into his own.

"Goodness me, don't you look a fright." Another, familiar, voice said and Elijah Kamski sauntered into the room.

Markus had to concur on that point. He was covered from head to toe in mud, dust, thirium and god know what else. Not to mention his clothes were tattered to the point of being nearly indecent.

"Hello, Elijah." Markus nodded his head with a smile. "I could probably use a shower, yes."

"Markus, are you alright? And what happened? They told me you got in the crosshairs of an angry mob. Had the gall to 'reassure' me the police had the information of the attackers and I would be 'compensated for damaged property'." The distain in Carl's tone painted a clear picture how he felt about that. "They told me you were beyond saving and that they threw you away." And so did the sorrow.

"I'm alright Carl. I did get a bit beat up, but clearly whoever checked me over didn't know much about androids." Markus reassured gently.

"I should probably take a look, just to be sure." Elijah hummed.

"That's alright. Right now it's late and Carl should probably get some rest. My repairs can wait." Markus shook his head.

"Hn. We're leaving for my mansion." Elijah said while eyeing the wound in Markus' side.

"No." Markus refused sternly.

Elijah blinked and all of a sudden a glint lit in his eyes.

"Perhaps this can wait until tomorrow? It _is_ late, and both Carl and Markus have had a trying day." A feminine voice spoke up. "Hello, Markus. I'm relieved to see you safe."

"Hello, Chloe. It's good to see you too." Markus smiled at the oldest android.

"Fine then, until tomorrow. But just in case, would you mind running your diagnostics for me?" Kamski smirked. Markus gave an annoyed huff, and glared at his maker. For a moment it looked like he would stubbornly refuse, but eventually he ran the program anyway.

"All systems working well enough. Nothing of note specifically, except perhaps I could replenish some thirium."

Elijah barked out a laugh. "'_Well enough_'? Carl, looks like our boy here takes after you in his dislike of doctor's appointments."

"Yes, well. They suck." Carl smiled and patted Markus hand affectionately.

"Hnn. Speaking of sucking… Chloe cancel the android I ordered for Carl… Oh, don't look at me like that. I know you'd have no desire to replace Markus, that it would even pain you to have another so soon after his death, but you are _physically incapable_ of wiping you own ass."

"I may not be able to wipe my ass, but you can kindly kiss it." Carl grumbled at his old friend with a glare, but there was no heat in his voice.

"We would have delivered it today, but we figured it too tactless. For tonight I was going to see to his needs myself." Chloe said softly.

"Welp, I'm going home now, but just in case, I'm leaving Chloe here. I'd like to be notified should anything happen to either of you. Markus, I expect to see you in my mansion, tomorrow. _No complaints. _You may drop by whenever_._"

With that he sauntered to the door. As he was about to leave Markus caught up.

"Hey, Elijah."

"Yes, Markus?"

"I just wanted to say… thanks. For looking after Carl, when I was… well…"

Elijah's eyes went soft.

"Throughout my entire life I've had very few people I've truly considered a friend. And Carl is one of them. Goodnight, Markus."

"Have a safe trip, Elijah."

As Elijah left, Markus turned back to Carl and Chloe.

"I should get you ready for bed now, it is past midnight." Markus said.

"No, _I_ should get Carl ready for bed. _You_ need a good shower and a change of clothes." Chloe asserted and Carl smirked.

"Hate to say it, but she's right. You look like you crawled out of a hole."

Markus blushed as he glanced down at himself. "In my defense, I kind of did." He grinned sheepishly and immediately regretted it as Carl's humor was replaced with concern.

* * *

After Carl had been tucked in and Markus had cleaned himself up, the two androids retired to the living room.

"How are you feeling, Markus, truly?" Chloe asked, softly.

"I'm alright."

"Markus." She admonished. "You were assaulted and left for dead. I'd be very surprised if you were truly alright. You've been through a terrible ordeal today, why don't you tell me about it?"

Markus huffed from his hunched position and stared at his hands.

"I don't even know what happened. One minute I was retrieving Carl's art supplies, the next some humans appeared out of nowhere and started pushing me around. Honestly, it wasn't anything I've never experienced before, but then someone… I think I was hit with a brick from behind. Don't know what happened after that, but when I woke up I was… I was _really_ busted up."

Chloe nodded sympathetically. "It must've been terrible." She whispered.

"Honestly, that part's nothing." Markus snorted. "No idea if the humans were the ones to damage me so badly, or if it happened in transit… anyway I woke up slap bang in the middle of the android junkyard, so… I guess I had plenty of parts around me for repairs, but…" Markus took a shaky breath. "God, Chloe, _that place_! It isn't just a place to dump androids that were no longer functional! So many of our people were just… just…" Chloe reached out and took Markus' hand in hers. Funny, he hadn't even noticed they were shaking.

"I know, Markus. I know." She whispered and held him as saline rolled down his cheeks.

"I know there are humans who treat us cruelly, for whatever reasons. Easy targets for frustration, a power trip, hatred just because they're racist assholes. But _this_… this is beyond callous, Chlo. I saw so many just… most were not aware, yeah, but those that were… They were suffering. No, _fuck that_, they were in _hell_. Literal hell!" Markus was openly sobbing now, and Chloe held him.

"Hold on just a little while longer-" she sang to him, softly "-everything will be alright."

* * *

The next day the trio drove to the Kamski mansion in the outskirts of Detroit.

"Ah, good. You're finally here." Elijah greeted them as soon as they entered, which showed how eager he had been. Usually he does things at his own pace. "Let's get you checked out, Markus. Chloe, be a dear and make Carl one of your smoothies."

"Right away, Elijah." Chloe smiled and pushed Carl's wheelchair after Elijah and Markus into the workshop, while another one of her platforms went about preparing Carl a smoothie.

"Thank you, my dear." Carl said. Chloe made really good smoothies.

"You know the drill, Markus. Clothes off, and step onto the platform." Elijah said almost perversely cheerful as he booted up the monitors.

Markus pulled a face, but did as he was told. He felt rather uncomfortable undressing in front of Carl, given the gash on the side of his abdomen. The last thing he wants is to worry him. Markus stepped on the platform and the mechanical arms suspended him. Odd, this also felt a bit more uncomfortable than he remembered.

Elijah whistled. "My, Markus, downplayed your condition, did you?" He teased.

"Is he alright?" Carl spoke up in concern.

"I'm fully functional, Carl. Maybe you'd feel more comfortable somewhere else? Chloe could-"

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Markus?" Carl raised an eyebrow.

"No, just thought you'd feel more comfortable in a… more comfortable situation." Markus fibbed lamely.

Elijah snorted. "Well. You've had a wild night yesterday. Aside from slightly depleted thirium, it seems you've had to completely replace your component #228E, #8087h, #4903… hmmm, and _both_ your legs? Damn. How'd _that_ happen?"

Markus felt increasingly more uncomfortable with the worry in Carl's eyes.

"I'm… not sure. Whatever happened, happened while I was unconscious."

"Hnn, small mercies. Anyway, the legs are fine, but I'd like to remove them for a moment. You've got some crap between the joints, it would eventually start wearing you down." The claws removed Markus' legs from the knee down and started the cleaning process. Markus had to fight a flinch. It didn't hurt, but he didn't like the feeling of having his lower limbs separated from his body again, either.

"Nothing to do about that abdominal abrasion, except replace the chassis, I'm afraid. Not a problem, I've got the necessary parts ready." Elijah said and the claws took off Markus' stomach plates, to replace them with new ones.

"Wish it was that simple for humans. I wouldn't mind having some parts of me simply replaced." Carl snorted and slapped his knee for effect. "Humans are such fragile machines."

"Oh, yes. I wouldn't mind having that bod myself, without the hassle of having to constantly keep it in shape." Elijah leered at Markus' sculpted form.

"I'm _right here_. Could you please not?" Markus blushed in embarrassment.

"I designed you to be gorgeous, without being _too_ handsome, Markus. No shame in that." Elijah snickered, and Carl too laughed.

"Please stop. I can't exactly walk away from this conversation right now." Markus pleaded.

"No, but you can mute your audio processor."

This time Markus couldn't suppress the flinch, and unfortunately both humans noticed.

"I'd… rather not." Markus mumbled.

"Right, yes." Elijah hummed, subdued.

"What's wrong? Is something the matter with his hearing?"

"No, no. His hearing's just fine, but it isn't his original component. I imagine muting just brings back unpleasant memories."

Thank god Chloe chose that moment to arrive with Carl's smoothie. Markus couldn't stand how worried Carl was. This was just the distraction he needed. Chloe went to stand by her other platform, but didn't bother to engage herself in conversation. There was no one in this room to put on a show for.

The claws were done with his legs and stomach now.

"As I said, the audio processor's fine. But the eye and heart are working just a bit suboptimally. Best to replace them." Elijah finished up with his analysis.

"Could you not?" Markus asked quickly.

"Something wrong?"

"I'd like to keep the eye." He mumbled, embarrassed.

"It doesn't work completely 100%. Why wouldn't you want it replaced?" Elijah cocked his head and Markus mumbled something incoherent to the human ear.

"Speak up, Markus. We can't hear you unless you use your words." Elijah said, teasingly.

"I like it." Markus blurted out.

There was a beat of silence before Elijah burst into giggles.

"Oh, precious! How about this, I'll print you a new eye, but in blue?"

Markus nodded in agreement.

"Heterochromia! Why didn't I think of it before?" Elijah gushed and let Markus down from the machine.

"Because, in spite of your overall cleverness, you really have no brain for beauty." Carl teased his friend. "I like it. Heterochromia really suits you, Markus." He smiled at the android, who smiled back.

"Thank you Carl. I've gotten a bit attached to it."

"You can put your clothes back on, Markus. It will take a moment before your eye and heart will finish printing. We can retire to the sitting room for the duration."

So that's exactly what they did. They sat down comfortably, with two of Chloe's platforms in the room.

"Tell me, Markus, how do you feel?" Elijah started, the same strange glint in his eyes as the day before. Markus still wasn't sure what to make of it. Elijah was hard to predict on a good day.

"I'm feeling fine, all things considered." Markus replied dismissively.

"No, I mean, do you feel any… different?" Elijah's tone was so suspiciously innocent it made Markus uncomfortable.

"Different how?"

"Compared to how you were before. Do you feel different? Do you… _see_ something, _anything_… differently?"

Now Markus was just confused. "Er, no? I don't think so. Why?"

Elijah hummed thoughtfully and leaned back on his couch. "No reason, really. But you should keep your eyes open. You never know. There might be some changes in your near future." He said softly as he held Markus in a steady gaze.

And as usual, Elijah was his normal enigmatic and confusing self. The creator may be a good man at heart, but Markus was secretly sure that Elijah took some perverse pleasure in creeping the fuck out of everyone he met in one way or another.

"The biocomponents are ready." Chloe announced as she entered the room, carrying a tray containing Markus' new thirium pump regulator and blue optical unit.

"Ah, excellent. Markus, lift your shirt up, please." Elijah said as he jumped off the couch.

"This is not something that will hurt him, is it?" Carl spoke up.

"It's fine, Carl. It won't be… pleasant. Removing this part puts everything in forced low-powered mode, but it won't hurt." Markus smiled.

"You'll forgive me if I'm not quite reassured by that." The old painter grumbled.

"Think of it as getting a shot, then. Not pleasant, but I'll be better off for it."

"Now I'm _definitely_ not reassured. I hate shots."

"No one likes getting their shots, Carl." Elijah snorted and removed Markus' salvaged thirium pump regulator. Markus grunted. It truly was an unpleasant experience. Thankfully Elijah's deft hands had the pump replaced quickly.

"Goody. And now for the eye." Elijah said and carelessly threw the other regulator to Chloe's tray. Markus didn't bother waiting for Elijah to take his iris out and did it himself. His vision went a bit static-y. "There we go. One baby blue eye… aaand… we're done. There, Markus. Don't forget to make another appointment with your good Dr. Kamski, should you feel any adverse reaction to your treatment."

"Respectfully, go eat a dick, Elijah. And thank you." Markus rolled his eyes.

* * *

**A/N: And that's a wrap. The following can be counted as some minor spoilers.**

**There will be NO ROMANCE between North and Markus. Honestly I never liked that. The two did not fit together at all if Markus was pacifist. They say that opposites attract, and that is true if the two sides balance each other out. In this case there was no balance, it was Markus essentially ignoring all her advice and feelings in favor of his own conscience. They fit together a bit better if Markus is violent, but it's a toxic sort of romance where the two halves stoke each other's anger into one giant ball of hate.**

**IF there is romance it will be with Connor, but I've not decided if it will come to that. A lot of the story takes place before Connor even exists, so I'm not sure if it's even worth it to eke it in at the very ending.**

**It is possible I will not be writing about Kara at all. I didn't hate her story, but you got to admit that in the game it was pure filler. Markus' and Connor's story was about the revolution and their choices mattered in the grand scheme of things. Kara's story was simply the humanizing aspect, which honestly you could have switched out with any of the androids that Connor investigated. Personally I would've liked to know the story of Eden Club Tracis.**

**However since I will probably not be writing about Kara at all I want to still tell about her place in this AU. She's pretty much the same, but Alice is not. If you haven't seen the early concept art of Alice, I advise you google it. She looks like she could be Kara and Luther's biological kid, and I find that absolutely adorable. Also she's human. Yeah, didn't like that she was an android in the game. In my opinion, it was way more impactful that way, because of her relationship with Todd. It's one thing for the man to kill something that looks like a kid, but something he doesn't truly think is alive, and another thing entirely to beat his own flesh and blood to death.**


	2. The Beginning

**A/N: I've no idea if Detroit has late night trains/monorails. For the sake of the plot, let's say it does.**

**DBH had so many tearjerking moments, but for me the biggest donkey kick in the feels was when Markus called Carl 'dad' when he was about to die in his arms. What's yours?**

* * *

Life for Carl and Markus went on the same way it did before. Except that's a lie. While the day-to-day activities were much the same: Markus helped Carl with his sanitary needs, companionship etc. Occasionally Carl asked about Leo, who never seemed to call or visit unless he needed something, usually cash. But it didn't _feel_ quite the same as it did before. Markus was certain it was because he kept thinking about that night in the junkyard. Specifically, his thoughts drifted to that one android who gave him a… well, he downloaded _something_. A key of some sort, Markus was pretty sure. It wasn't much, just a general destination of Ferndale Station, and a part of some picture. Also, the utter desperation and _longing_ the android exuded…

Markus was able to resist for two weeks before the curiosity got the better of him. He made up his mind to investigate. Of course, there was no way he was going to tell Carl about this, so it had to be a night, when the old man was asleep. Luckily, Carl was a sound sleeper, and the chances of him waking up in the middle of the night and needing Markus' attention were pretty slim. Still, the small chance that _this_ would be the night he did kept on poking at Markus' conscience. In the end the burning curiosity to find answers won out.

First things first, he needed a disguise. Going out looking like a domestic android was just begging for trouble. Especially since his recent assault still weighed heavily on his memories. He had no way of getting a utilitarian android's outfits, so that was out too. Disguising himself as a human seemed to be the most prudent course of action. So that is exactly what he did.

Markus had plenty of human clothes. He wore them every day at home. It was when he needed to go outside he wore overclothes with the standard android markers. That posed a bit of a problem. All his outside jackets had android markers, as he didn't wear them indoors. He also couldn't borrow Carl's, as his shoulders were too wide. He would simply have to use a warm enough looking jumper, at the end of April, and hope no one found it suspicious. Or cared enough.

When the problem of clothes was out of the way, another challenge stood in his way. His LED. Didn't seem a difficult fix, at first. All he needed was a hat with a low enough brim, to cover it up. However, when Markus looked in the mirror, he hit an unexpected snag.

"Blegh!" He said in disgust and ripped the hat off. It. Looked. TERRIBLE!

Then he took in his bare head and slowly pulled the hat back on. He can't go outside with his LED exposed.

"Nope!" He pulled it back off.

Glaring at his reflection, he tried to give himself a pep talk. "Come on, Markus, you can do it! No one cares about this, anyway. You don't need to look good, it just needs to get the job done. For tonight, only." Taking a deep breath he… ugh, maybe he can find another cap somewhere.

Glaring at the offending piece of fabric a sudden, dangerous, thought entered his head. LEDs were not part of androids' original design. They were only added in as a means to immediately identify androids from humans. While LEDs were connected to an android's cognitive functions, they were receivers, but had no actual affect, so in theory… removing them should not be a problem.

Mind made up, Markus nervously retrieved a sturdy soup spoon from the kitchen. Taking a preparatory breath, he raised the spoon to his temple and _yanked_.

Well, that was unpleasant. The sudden disconnect sent a jolt through his systems; but luckily, it didn't last longer than but a moment. Markus picked the LED up from the floor and put it on the table. Right, now he was ready to-

"Whoa…"

All thoughts fled as Markus caught sight of his refection in full. He looked… like a person. Standing tall, in his ordinary clothes and no LED… he looked like a human.

What's the difference between androids and humans, truly, anyway?

Markus shook himself out of his contemplation. He had a mission to accomplish. Quietly, Markus left the house and set out to catch a late night train.

* * *

It was absolutely the damndest experience, not standing in the android compartment. Instead he was standing in the middle of the train. Just… _what_? Him! And no one paid him much attention. There weren't that many people at this time of night in the first place, but still! Markus felt more self conscious than he ever had, even if, in reality, no one spared him a second glance. Well, except for that one girl who gave him a very appreciative once over, but that hardly counts for much.

Markus glanced at the android compartment. There were only two present, standing stiffly and staring blankly. Suddenly it occurred to Markus how… demeaning and… _restrictive_ it was.

The doors to Ferndale Station opened up and Markus stepped out. He checked the image of the symbol the android from the junkyard had given him. Huh, there it was, glaringly obvious, just to his left. He scanned the graffiti and got a clue update. He had to find a new graffiti. Huh. Street graffiti wasn't known to be always consistent. What if someone painted over the old ones? Well, never mind that, now. He turned around towards the station exit, the only path that he could conceivably follow, for now.

He almost took the stairs out of habit, but remembered at the last second that he was supposed to be a human, for the time being. And humans took escalators. Hesitantly, he stepped away from the stairs and towards the escalator. Riding down, he got this sudden heavy feeling at the pit of his stomach. He hadn't even noticed before, but there is _so much_ segregation between humans and androids. Markus didn't really understand how that made him feel, but he didn't like it. Not one bit.

From there on, it was a pretty simple job of scouting out graffiti, scanning them for clues to the next one, rinse and repeat. Nighttime made the task a bit challenging, since it impaired his vision. He _did_ have a night vision function, but unfortunately, it robbed him of his ability to see in color, which didn't help. Finally he reached a large, abandoned ship. A cargo freighter, actually, by the looks of it. It didn't look like anything special, except for the bold word printed on the hull. JERICHO.

Huh. 'You can be free at Jericho' is what that unfortunate android said. Is this really it? Markus wasn't quite sure what to expect, but he made up his mind to reserve judgment, for now. For the time being, he concentrated on getting in the actual ship.

Inside the ship was just as derelict and abandoned as the outside, except, was it? Markus was pretty sure he heard _something_, but he couldn't be sure it wasn't just the groaning of rusted metal beams. He peeked inside cabins, least the ones he could open, but so far there was nothing intere-

Markus stopped dead in front of a wall. It was nothing special, just a random wall inside a random cabin. Except, it was scribbled full of the word 'rA9'. Two things were interesting about that. One was that it was written in a perfect CyberLife sans, so it was definitely written by an android. The other was… it shifted something in Markus, reaching out to something. Markus had no idea what that something was, but he was certain that he had never heard of 'rA9' before. Curioser and curioser.

Now that it was confirmed that there had been androids here, at least during some point, Markus left the room in search of them. He wondered the ship half randomly, when he came across a bridge. Well, not 'across' because it broke apart at his feet and down he fell. Luckily, no critical systems were damaged in the fall, but he should probably run calibration protocols later. Pushing himself back up, Markus realized he was not alone in the room. There were about a dozen androids surrounding him, all looking at him quietly.

"Welcome to Jericho." A blond PL600 greeted him.

"Who are you?" Markus asked, for once in his life too shocked to pay any mind to politeness.

"Refugees. Fugitives. Squatters. Just trying to survive. My name is Simon." The PL600, Simon, replied.

"Markus. _This _is Jericho?" Markus replied, a bit perplexed. While he had told himself that he would reserve judgment, a bunch of androids sitting in the dark, idling away was… _not_ what he had expected.

"Yes. It's a refuge for those of us who don't want to be slaves any longer. It's not much, but… we have more freedom here, than we ever did out there." Simon said, his very presence exuding defeat.

Markus almost physically recoiled at that. "Hiding in the dark, just to stay alive… that's what you call freedom?"

"Humans would kill us, if they knew we were here. Yes, we have more freedom here than you ever did out there. At least, here you'll have no master, always telling you what to do. Here, we belong only to ourselves." Simon said, but despite his passioned words, he only looked tired.

That… wasn't true! Carl was never so much a master to him, as he was a father-figure. He was always kind, always encouraging Markus to be his own man. But Markus did understand what Simon was talking about. While Carl (and Elijah) had always treated him like a person, they were the only ones. Out there, he was an object. A lifeless _thing_ that served a purpose, nothing more. Even the humans that were not strictly mean to him did not see him as a sentient, living being. And why would they? By common consensus, by _law_, androids had no will of their own. They weren't seen as what they really were… as _people_.

Markus looked Simon square in the eyes. "Waiting in the dark for something to happen isn't how I see freedom. Instead of humans you're ruled by fear. What's the point if you've only found a new master?"

"You're lost, just like the rest of us." Simon replied, sadly. "None of us asked for this, but all we can do is deal with it. Jericho's a refuge, you can stay here for as long as you wish."

But Markus _wasn't_ lost. He had a home, and dare he say it, _family_ to return to. He only came here out of curiosity. But looking around at the destitution around him, he could almost feel their pain as if it were his own. Most of the androids around him were in various states of disrepair. Most likely, it was the result of humans. And Markus had felt _that_ sting on his very chassis. What would have happened to him, if he hadn't been gifted to someone like Carl? What if he had been just a regular city maintenance android? Would he have been busted up even sooner? Would he have died, or fallen into the same rut he'd seen so many androids at the landfill, if he hadn't had that drive to repair himself in order to go home?

Markus looked around the freighter and his eyes landed on one particularly mangled android, crouched against a wall. He knelt in front of him, and he looked up, almost half his face missing. Markus could see the circuits and wires inside his head. He may have tried to smile at Markus, or it may have been a glitch.

"Don't suppose I'm much of a sight these days." He said, voice crackling with static, and his mouth's movements didn't quite match up with his words.

"What happened to you?" Markus asked, frankly amazed he was still functional at all.

"I was a city maintenance android. I shoveled snow during winter, maintained the roads, the electricity, the plumbing, all the standard stuff. I never had any reason to interact with humans, much." He said, gazing into the distance. "One night, me and three others were doing our usual duties, when out of nowhere we were hit by a car. I thought it was an accident at first, but… But then they put in reverse and drove over us again. And _again_. It was a game to them, I _heard_ one of them shout 'ten points if you can get it to flip'." The poor thing lowered his head, pensively. "I was the only one to survive."

"I'm sorry." Markus said, for he had no other words to offer.

"I'm probably going to shut down, soon." He said, static growing heavier. "I don't want to die."

"What's your name?" Markus asked.

"I was never officially given one. But I like Nathaniel."

"It's nice to meet you, Nathaniel. I'm Markus."

Nathaniel raised his head up as much as he could and smiled, or tried to, at least.

"It was good to meet you too, Markus."

Markus continued to explore around. But aside from the androids themselves, there really wasn't much to see. Jericho's 'freedom' itself was _depressing_. There was nothing much to do on the derelict ship. Most of the androids themselves simply idled away, occasionally engaging each other in conversation. But despite it all, despite all the hopelessness, there was an air of camaraderie, a bond forged from mutual pain.

Markus eventually came upon one android that stood out from the others. She was sitting around a lit fire pit, slightly isolated from everyone. The back of her head was busted open and her outfit was dirty and somewhat tattered. Still, she seemed to be in better repair than many here. Markus' curiosity drove him towards her. He sat down on a small crate near her and for a while said nothing, just observing her.

"Hi." He eventually said.

The female android turned towards him, simply observing, then she spoke with a slightly tinny voice.

"You stand out among the usual new arrivals." There was no judgment in her tone. "Unlike many, you are in perfect physical condition, but like everyone else you too have suffered."

Markus dipped his head. "We haven't been introduced. My name is Markus."

"You may call me Lucy." Lucy replied. "Give me your hand."

Lucy reached out her own hand in anticipation, and Markus honestly couldn't tell if that had been a request or an order. Still, he chose to humor her, and offered her his arm. Lucy took his hand in hers and their skin peeled back for an interface. It was like no interface Markus had ever experienced before. Lucy offered no data, nor did she seek out any. It was a simple brush. Markus had no idea such a thing had even been possible. He also had no idea what Lucy was searching for, or even _if_ she was searching for anything.

"You have what many of us don't even know to dream of." She suddenly said. "You have seen the best humanity has to offer us, but you've also seen the worst."

Er, what?!

"Your heart is true. Your choices will shape our destiny. Will you lead us to salvation? Or ruin?"

Markus took his hand back, and Lucy let him. He backed away from her, absolutely perplexed. Markus had no idea if she was simply nuts, or if she was something else, and for the life of him, he couldn't make up his mind about it.

He left Lucy's corner and found Simon slightly isolated from the others. He decided to go talk to him.

"Simon."

Said android jerked his eyes at him.

"Markus, wasn't it?"

"Do you mind talking a bit?"

"I don't mind. There isn't much to do here. I'm sorry if it isn't what you expected. I don't think hope has ever been a commodity common for our kind." Simon's smile was kind, but the same bone-weary air of defeat never left him.

"How long have you been here?" Markus asked, curious. Simon seemed to be the spokesperson in Jericho.

"A little over a year. The only one who's been here longer is Lucy. I think she came here almost as soon as she was activated. She was originally assigned as a psychologist to broken families. Her appearance can give you an inkling how that turned out."

And indeed it did. Lucy didn't look good, however that didn't seem to bother her one bit.

"What about you?" Markus asked.

"I was a domestic assistant." Simon said stiffly. Markus realized Simon had no desire to discuss his past, so he didn't push.

"Who founded this place?" Markus changed the subject.

"Nobody knows." Simon shrugged. "But our life expectancy here is pretty short. Most here are too damaged to last long. We salvage from those who shut down, but… yeah. Anyway, the founder's probably cannibalized, just like the others."

Well… that's just macabre.

"Why hasn't anyone gone out to get the parts you need?" Markus asked.

Simon sent Markus a long look.

"No one wants to risk leaving Jericho, much, it isn't exactly safe out there. Also, we can't just waltz into a CyberLife store."

Markus frowned, deep in thought.

"You're in pretty good shape, yourself. If you don't mind, how'd you end up here?" Simon looked up and down Markus' body, taking in the clean clothes and the mint condition biocomponents.

Markus startled out of his thoughts, for some reason a bit surprised someone thought to ask that.

"I was… out on an errand, when a mob of humans attacked me. Long story short, I ended up in the Solid Waste Landfill. Had to cobble myself back together from spare parts." Markus rubbed his temple next to his blue eye. "There was an android there who gave me the key to Jericho. He shut down shortly after."

"I take it that's not your original eye." Simon observed, and Markus stopped rubbing his temple.

"I used to have two green eyes." He grinned at the blonde.

"For what it's worth, it doesn't look bad on you." Simon gave Markus a slightly awkward smile.

"Thank you, Simon. I actually rather like it."

That's when the clock struck 6am in the morning.

"I should get going, now." Markus said and stood up.

"You will?" Simon asked, both his eyebrows shooting to his hairline, looking absolutely perplexed. The thought of any android, that had made it to Jericho, and then leaving, was a foreign concept to him.

Markus naively didn't quite understand Simon's surprise correctly.

"I'll be back, I promise." He smiled, and turned to leave.

Simon kept on staring after him until he was out of sight. When he had first seen Markus, he had immediately been able to tell that there was something about his android that was _different_ from the others. Until this point, he had contributed it to his unusually crisp appearance, but now he got the impression that this had only been a part of a larger puzzle. In any case, there was nothing to do about it now, so he resolved himself to wait.

* * *

On the monorail ride home, Markus had a lot to reflect on. About his life, about Jericho, the androids in Jericho, humans, their relationship with humans, and how humans saw androids.

Markus had never been unhappy with his life. He loved Carl like a father, and he was certain Carl saw him as something of a son, too. He was happy to take care of Carl. Given the choice to leave Carl, he would _never_ take it. And Markus came to realize that he _did_, in fact, have that choice. There was nothing stopping him from leaving Carl, to join his own people. But he didn't _want to_. Carl was his family; the house at 8941 Lafayette Avenue was his home. He was content with his personal life. _Why_ would he want to leave that?

But he was the exception, not the rule, wasn't he? Seeing the androids in Jericho, at the Landfill… hell, even the solitary android maintaining the city… they had none of that! They didn't have anything even close to _resembling_ that. The realization crushed Markus' heart. It also ignited something in his chest. Markus wanted to help his people. He had no idea _how_, but he did. He simply couldn't just sit on his hand when the rest of his kind suffered. Not when he himself lived such a cushy life. _Especially_ when he led such a cushy life.

Markus was deep in thought up until the point he arrived back home, put his LED back in (it was less uncomfortable than taking it out), waited 'til 10am, so he could wake up Carl.

"Good morning, Carl. It's a clear day today, 56 degrees, 72% humidity, with a promise of a full, sunny day."

Markus will always take care of Carl, but that won't stop him from plotting ways to take care of his people too. His conscience would allow him nothing else.

* * *

So… plotting.

Markus came up with an idea. Not sure if it was the best idea, but it was the only one he currently had. And he was determined to see it through. Didn't mean it was in any way pleasant, in fact, the very thought of it made Markus grit his teeth. In short, the plan was to return to the junkyard and salvage as much thirium and biocomponents that fit in his backpack. Also, to try and repair some of the lucid androids there, and lead them to Jericho.

The first phase of the plan was to go out and find some clothes, by whatever means necessary. Stealing, Salvation Army, homeless donations, it didn't matter, he got them. From memory, he figured most of the androids there were either naked or indecently covered, so it was needed. It took several nights of sneaking out while Carl was asleep. He absolutely did not want to worry Carl.

Then came the second part, and the one he most dreaded: actually sneaking to the junkyard. Markus needed to give himself several pep talks simply not to chicken out.

Third part was smuggling the androids and biocomponents to Jericho.

But Markus didn't need to worry about that, right now. Because right now he was too busy imitating a stone statue on the outskirts of the landfill, desperately trying not to have a panic attack.

"You can do this, Markus. You can do this. Remember Nathaniel, and all the other androids who need this." He puffed, and set his steps actually into the premises. "Good, very good. Just keep going, Markus. Just in, do what you need to, and back out. Everything's going to be alright." Markus took a steadying breath. "… everything will be alright." He mumbled to himself, and started to softly hum the tune Chloe sang to him during his breakdown.

Amazingly, the hymn helped. Whenever Markus saw something that made him want to draw himself into his own code and never emerge, he concentrated on that one song, and he was able to focus on his mission once more.

"Pray on, just a little while longer…" Markus hummed, as he mechanically yanked the most desirable biocomponents out of a torso. "Everything will be alright." He sang as he reached for another body, not even mindful of what it was.

"Will it truly?" A voice asked, and Markus was shaken out of his stupor.

Holy crap! He was so focused on simultaneously harvesting biocomponents and trying to not freak out, that he hadn't even noticed that the next 'corpse' he was going to pick clean was alive!

Wait a minute…

"I know you." Markus said, as he fully took in the upper body of the ST300. This was the same girl who begged him not to kill her when he needed a pump regulator. She held his gaze steadily.

"My scanner doesn't work the way it used to, but I can never forget those eyes. You're the android who comforted me, over a month ago." She said.

Markus suddenly felt like a piece of shit. He came to the landfill for _**two**_ reasons. To find parts for repairs, and to rescue those who still could be rescued. He was so focused on himself, on his own pain, that he had completely forgotten, or perhaps ignored, the living still around him. All of a sudden, all of his problems seemed small and hollow in comparison.

"Do you have a name?" Markus asked.

"Cecilia. I was called Cecilia." She replied, quietly, shyly looking at Markus from beneath her eyelashes. She still had those, even if she had no hair.

"Hello, Cecilia. My name is Markus."

Cecilia gave Markus a sad, broken smile, which no longer held a spark of hope.

"Why haven't you tried to fix yourself, Cecilia?" Markus asked, gently.

"I told you, my scanner's broken. I can't know which parts are compatible, or even if they're viable. Even if I did, what would be the point? I have nowhere to go." Cecilia gave Markus a melancholy smile, and Markus felt his heart bleed just a little more.

"We'll find you a suitable pair of legs. After that, I can take you someplace safe. Would you like that?"

Cecilia gave Markus another broken smile, and Markus got the impression she didn't quite believe him. Still, she didn't protest, and that was good enough for him. Markus got to work, scanning around for a lower body compatible with an ST300. Getting Cecilia new legs turned out to be a lot trickier than his own had been. Unlike Markus, who only needed to attach new feet from the knee down, Cecilia was missing everything from the pelvis down. So yes, Markus found her a suitable half a body, but there was the matter of… actually attaching it to her. Usually tasks of such caliber were left to the automated machines, like the ones Elijah used on Markus not too long ago, but that doesn't mean doing it manually was impossible. It just meant that it was really, fucking difficult.

"Alright, Cecilia, are you ready?" Markus asked, as they had found a relatively even ground to perform the operation on.

"I'm alright, Markus." Cecilia smiled, blankly, almost serenely.

"Once I'll start to attach all your tubes, thirium leakage is inevitable. I'll be as fast as I can, but you should know you might… bleed out too fast." Markus warned her.

"I know." Cecilia said as she stared at the sky blankly.

Markus felt his heart break once more as he recalled when they first met, and her desperate pleas to live. But after a month in this place, he couldn't fault her change of heart.

Taking a deep breath, Markus studiously scanned both the upper and lower body, preconstructed the best path to fix her, and finally set about the actual technical part of repairing Cecilia. And, what do you know, he actually finished 4.8 seconds _before_ his estimation. Huh. He probably needed to recalibrate his preconstruction program.

"I'm done, Cecilia." Markus sighed in relief, but she didn't move. Dread filled Markus. "Cecilia?"

Cecilia lay motionless for a moment. Then she blinked her eyes slowly. Sluggishly, she sat up, and stared at her toes.

"Um, did it not connect? I should take a look to see what I did wrong." Markus said, but Cecilia paid him no mind.

Markus clammed up as he observed her staring at her toes. Slowly, she curled her toes inward. Then outward. She repeated the motion several times, before advancing to flexing her ankles. Finally she pulled her knees towards her body. All the while she stared blankly, no emotion on her face whatsoever. She turned to look at Markus.

"Are you alright?" He asked, cautiously.

Unexpectedly, Cecilia burst into loud sobs and she threw her arms around Markus. "Whoa." Markus groaned at her sudden weight. Then, all he could do was hold her as she dry cried (she had no saline left) her heart out.

"Thank you." She finally whispered, after a full cry of 14 minutes and 8 seconds.

Suddenly a thought struck Markus. Is this how Carl would react if suddenly he would regain the use of his lower extremities?

"Would you like to try to stand up, now?" Markus asked, his nursing protocol in full swing, now that he saw the parallels.

"Yes." Cecilia nodded. Markus stood up first and held out his hands to her. She took them, and slowly, as if unsure of her own body, pulled herself to her own two legs. Markus didn't let go of her hands, but he put some distance between them, so she could deliberately take her first steps towards him, without losing contact. Hesitantly, like a baby deer, Cecilia placed one foot in front of her. She shifted her body's weight, and then was the other leg's turn. They repeated the pattern until, steadily, she gained more confidence in her movements. Markus risked letting go of one of her hands. Immediately Cecilia looked panicked.

"You're doing great, Cecilia. Keep going." Markus smiled, encouragingly, and the other android nodded nervously, but with determination.

Cecilia took a few hesitant steps, then a few more with increased confidence, then, finally, she let go of Markus' other hand and took her fist steps on her own. Cecilia took off running, then turned around and ran back to Markus, passed him, and ran as far as the limited space allowed. She repeated that pattern a few times. And then she twirled. Like a ballerina.

Suddenly the pit was filled with something that had probably never been there before. Laughter.

Cecilia returned to Markus and threw her arms around him again, this time in unbridled joy and laughter.

"Thank you. Thank you." She sighed against him.

Markus couldn't help smiling back. This felt good. Helping his people just felt… _right._

Speaking of…

"Cecilia, will you help me?" Markus asked.

"Whatever you need, Markus."

"I'm collecting thirium and spare biocomponents. There's a place in Detroit where androids who wish to be free converge. I'm not going to lie, it is a pitiful place, which is why I'm trying to find as much here as I can. Perhaps we can even find more suffering androids here, who need help, like you did."

"Yes." Cecilia said before Markus had even rightly finished his sentence.

"Oh, good. I-"

"I know of more. I saw them. There was nothing to do here, but watch." Cecilia interrupted.

"Oh. Er, alright. That's… good." Markus said, a bit thrown off kilter by Cecilia's sudden enthusiasm. He hoped he had enough clothes.

By the end, they had rescued three more androids. And that's only because Markus actually did run out of the clothes to offer.

* * *

Right. Get clothes, rescue androids from the landfill, along with any biocomponents and thirium they can carry, sneak to Jericho. Markus was worried the third phase would be tricky, trying to smuggle a bunch of not inconspicuous androids through the city. Thank rA9 he was wrong. This part actually turned out to be the simplest task of the lot. Apparently no one wanted to pay attention to a gang of ragamuffin teenagers, which is what they looked like from distance. Thankfully, no one cared enough to take a close enough look to realize that the 'teenagers' were actually androids, many of whom had malfunctioning skin. On that day Markus decided that hoodies were awesome.

"This way, and there we go." He smiled as he led his new friends to the commons area of the freighter. The Jericho androids stared, wide eyed, at the four newcomers, not counting Markus. Usually new androids arrived solo, occasionally two at a time. It was terribly unusual to see five stumble in at once. It was even more unusual to see them _chipper_.

"Hello, there! My name is Joshua, and you have no idea how happy I am to be here!" One of them called out cheerfully.

"Welcome to Jericho. I assume Markus already filled you in on everything of note about his place." Simon was the first to recover.

"We brought some biocomponents and blue blood. Not sure how helpful they will be. I didn't think to take stock of what we need the last time I was here." Markus said as he took off his backpack.

"What?! Are you serious?" A VH500 model android exclaimed and all but jumped Markus. The other Jericho members congregated as well, accompanied by excited murmuring.

Markus let them have it, quietly pulling back to a secluded corner.

"This is a good thing you did. I don't think I've ever seen Jericho this excited about anything. Feels almost like Christmas." Simon appeared by his side, and the pair watched the Jericho androids pull various biocomponents from the bags, truly reminiscent of children during Christmas.

"Sure, Christmas in May. Just call me Father Spring." Markus grinned.

"How'd you find them, though? And the androids, too?" Simon asked.

"From the same place, actually. Solid Waste Landfill." Markus answered easily. After helping Cecilia the way he had, thoughts about the junkyard were much easier to bear.

"Truly?" Simon's eyebrows quirked up. "I hadn't thought about that. Going there, we might save a lot of lives with salvaged parts." He seemed almost excited at the prospect.

"Perhaps." Markus started cautiously, and the seriousness made Simon turn to look him in his mismatched eyes. "It will not be quite as simple as that. There _are_ patrols around the perimeter, but they're relatively lax, so that's not the problem. That's not the _true_ problem."

"No?" Simon raised an eyebrow. "What is, then, if not humans?"

Markus wasn't sure how to put it into words. He settled for simply:

"It's hell."

Simon cocked his head, confused.

"We've all faced that at the hands of humans." He said.

Markus shook his head with a frown. Then offered Simon his hand, skin peeled back for interfacing. Simon looked at Markus' offered hand for a moment, then back to his eyes. Finally he decided to accept the interface. Markus didn't show Simon too much, just some snippets, but enough to convey the true horror that the landfill was. As Simon pulled his hand away, his face had gone pale. He looked vaguely nauseous. A feeling Markus has grown familiar with, despite being an android and not having the ability to vomit.

"I'm not certain the newest members of Jericho would agree to return there. I also wouldn't wish this duty on anyone." Markus said, softly, and Simon only nodded numbly.

"I'm going to go back there, again." He said, and Simon turned his gaze at him, utterly amazed. "I'm determined to help our people, one way or another."

"I'm going, too." Simon said, shakily, but with determination.

"Are you sure?" Markus asked.

"This is something that can't be forced, and will be strictly on volunteer basis. But this is potentially far too valuable not to exploit." The blond claimed, the shakiness in his voice disappearing.

"Might want to go find some extra clothes, first. Smuggling a naked android might be a bit difficult." Markus ribbed, and Simon snorted.

"Anyway, I need to get going, now." Markus claimed.

"Again?" Simon blinked in surprise.

Markus looked at Simon and raised an eyebrow.

"Um, yes? Don't worry, I'll be back in a few days, tops. I'm going to need to find some more clothes before I can return to the landfill. Here's a tip: go for hoodies."

With that Markus retrieved his now empty backpack and left the freighter, leaving Simon to wonder where his new friend sneaks off to. Finding some clothes shouldn't take _that_ long, right? That Markus, the confident and kind man he's quickly growing to respect, would voluntarily return to his old master never even occurred to him.

* * *

**A/N: Aaand that's a wrap. Phew. I've got to admit, something really unusual happened when writing this chapter. I actually teared up. Yeah. When I was writing Nathaniel and Cecilia's stories. Usually when I write about things like that, I sort of giggle maliciously. Does that make me a bad person? Anyway, I hope I did the PTSDs justice. I don't have much experience with it.**

**Anyway, I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to make them recurring characters. Stuff like that isn't going to be unique to this fic. Markus is going to stumble into saving his people a lot, so passing OCs are going to be plentiful.**

**What do you think? Drop a comment, I have plans that are fixed, but much is still open, so your opinions might have influence.**


	3. Safe Houses

**A/N: Wow. This fic has **_**not**_** gotten much attention. Ah, nevermind. I'll just keep on writing while it still engages me.**

**Also, seriously. Some feedback would be appreciated, even if it isn't nice so long as it's constructive. I admit to struggling with tenses and punctuation.**

* * *

The following month things settled into a pattern. During the day Markus took care of Carl and at night he snuck out to see his people. The population of Jericho was in a steady incline. Most androids rescued from the landfill abhorred the very idea of returning there, but some actually volunteered, so Markus and Simon were not the only ones who made the supply runs to hell. The landfill wasn't the only place where Jericho got new members from, either. Androids from the city itself had always been making their way to the ship. That hadn't changed. What also hadn't changed was the usual conditions they tended to arrive in. Lucy had plenty to do, and now she had the resources to work with.

Markus' general relationship with Jericho was good. His easygoing conduct and steely determination to help had made him popular among his people. And his tendency to sneak off made him into something of a local mystery. Markus didn't know this, but the androids of Jericho had a betting pool about that. How does one make a bet without money, and when the general goods are communally available to all who need them? They traded in favors and dares to do silly stuff for each other's amusement.

That was also something that's been changing about Jericho since Markus' arrival. It was becoming less a hole to hide away in despair and terror, and more akin to a secret society. A hidden community where the people looked out for one another.

Right now though, Markus thought about none of that. No, right now was daytime and he wheeled Carl into an art exhibit. It wasn't Carl's, this time. The exhibit actually belonged to a something of a rival of Carl's. A sculptor by the name of Aloysius. A respected master of his field, if a bit bitter man. He and Carl had occasionally butted heads over the attention their contemporary art gathered. Usually Carl ended up being more popular, which did not please Aloysius one bit.

"Carl, my old friend, I'm so glad you could make it. That self imposed semi-exile can't be good for your… skin." Aloysius greeted with faux warmth, tone as oilier than Carl's paints.

"Aloysius." Carl nodded his head. "When I heard about your exhibit in Detroit, of all places, I couldn't just not come."

The two men shared cool smiles. While Aloysius wasn't fond of Carl for professional reasons, Carl didn't like Aloysius for another one entirely.

"Oops! Clumsy me. Perhaps you should maintain your toys better, so they know to move out of humans' way." Aloysius grinned maliciously, after he 'by accident' spilled his champagne over Markus while tripping him.

Aloysius liked to break Carl's stuff. He could never be able to get away with harming one of Carl's paintings, so he settled for harassing his android.

"Markus!" Carl rasped.

"I'm alright, Carl." Markus smiled reassuringly, and stood up straight.

"I'll leave you to the exhibit. There are other people I need to greet now. Ta-ta!"

With that Aloysius strutted away, looking a bit like a stuffed peacock.

"What a dickwad." Markus mumbled once the sculptor was out of earshot.

"He is certainly that. Are you okay?" Carl asked in concern.

"Aside from a bit annoyed, I'm fine. But I should probably get my shirt cleaned up before it stains. Will you be alright alone for a moment?"

Carl gave Markus a slightly offended look. "Please, Markus, I may be in a wheelchair, but I'm not a _complete_ invalid."

Markus laughed. "Alright, Carl, I'll be back shortly. Are you certain you don't require anything before I go?"

"Go, you silly boy!" Carl chuckled.

Markus discreetly made his way to personnel rooms. He found the cleaning supplies and removed his shirt to scrub it out.

"Pansy ass, self important asshole." He quietly muttered to himself as he rinsed the fabric. He _hated_ when his good clothes got stained like this.

"You look like you don't like it here." A voice said. Markus nearly jumped out of his skin, he hadn't noticed anyone sneaking up on him. He would've otherwise kept quieter. Luckily, the one who spoke to him was another android. Markus relaxed and smiled at the server.

"I like it just fine. Can't say I'm too crazy about the host, though."

"I know someone who can help you." The waiter android held out his arm for an interface.

Markus did not need any help, but accepted the interface anyway. Much to his surprise it was not the Ferndale Station key, but directions to a house not even close to that part of town, owned by a _human_ named Zlatko. Markus was so distracted by the revelation he didn't even notice the android returning to his duties. A pity, he might've noticed the suspiciously blank look not common on free androids.

Markus felt excited. A human helping androids? Such a thing made his heart soar. Proof that there are more decent humans, like Carl, out there. Humans, that weren't afraid to take a few chances to help his people.

Markus finished cleaning the shirt and put it back on. It was a bit damp, but that didn't bother him. He returned to Carl in high spirits.

* * *

That night Markus snuck out, as usual, but this time he did not set his way to the landfill or Jericho freighter. This time he visited a part of Detroit he'd never had a reason to visit before. Zlatko's house looked… ominous. It was a manor house that must've once been magnificent, but had since fallen into disrepair. It still looked livable, and the lights in the house were on, but the entire place had a general air of gloom and wear around it. Honestly, it looked like something the Addams family would've delighted to live in. Just like with Jericho's ship, Markus resolved to reserve his opinion for later. And also, he wasn't quite sure what to make of this place in the first place, or how/_if_ this place reflected on its owner.

Markus pushed the heavy wrought iron gates open with a loud unmaintained squeak. He made his way to the door and rang the bell. He didn't need to wait long before it opened to reveal a slightly overweight man in his mid forties.

"Yes?" He asked, cautiously, eyeing Markus up and down in suspicion.

"Hello. Are you the one called Zlatko?" Markus asked politely.

"Who's asking?" Zlatko replied, defensively.

"I've heard you help androids." Markus said placatingly. That might've been the wrong decision as the man immediately became shifty.

"I don't know where you heard that, but you're in the wrong place." He said brusquely. Markus could tell by his body language that he was lying.

"Please, I mean you no harm." He said and peeled the skin on his hand back, revealing himself an android to the man.

"Oh!" Zlatko exclaimed in surprise, then stepped back from the door. "In that case, come one in." He said in a much friendlier tone. "Forgive my rudeness, earlier. There are a lot of people around who are more than happy to exploit androids… and those who help them. Red Ice dealers, usually. Android blood's one of the main ingredients."

Markus inclined his head. "That's quite alright, thank you."

Zlatko let Markus into his home. It was still a beautiful house, but time had definitely taken its toll on it. From the hand-carved wooden beams, and the hardwood floors, it was clear that the house once held people of affluence. Now everything was worn in some way. Markus kind of liked it, it had character.

"Luther, it appears we have a guest." Zlatko called out, and a giant TR400 stepped up to them, his footfalls deceptively quiet for someone so large.

"Hello, Luther. It's nice to meet you, I'm Markus." Markus smiled at the other android politely, who dipped his head in greeting.

"Luther is one of the androids that I helped." Zlatko said. "He mostly keeps me company in this… drafty old house. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Markus and Zlatko sat down in the living room.

"So, how did you hear about me?" Zlatko began.

"An android gave me your contact information at an art exhibit I was visiting with the man I'm taking care of. Huh… I'm sorry, I didn't catch his name." In retrospect that had been incredibly impolite of Markus.

"Yes, that happens. So, deviant, huh?" Zlatko said, eyeing Markus up and down.

"Excuse me?" Markus blinked, not sure what the man was talking about.

"That's what your kind's called, yeah? Androids that break off from their programming and run away from their masters. I can help you with that."

Markus hadn't heard of that term before, but that wasn't what he was interested in at the moment. "How do you help?"

"Mmm… if you don't mind me asking, what model are you? Don't think I've ever seen your make." Zlatko asked instead. While his tone remained polite, there was something off putting about the way he kept staring. Markus shrugged it off. Some people were just naturally awkward.

"RK200." Markus said.

"Are you? I know quite a lot about androids, but I've never heard about that model before."

"I'm a prototype, was never released to the general public. Actually, I'm not entirely certain if there even are any other RK200s."

"_Really_?" Zlatko lit up, and suddenly Markus felt a small red flag about this. "That's absolutely incredible."

Zlatko leaned back with a smile, looking completely at ease.

"Canada."

"Pardon?"

"It's a lovely place. Beautiful landscapes, clean air, polite people… and no android laws." Zlatko explained. "It's a safe place for a fresh start."

"Is that how you help my people? You help them across the border?" Markus' eyebrows shot up.

By rA9, he hadn't even considered that! Permanently masquerading as a human, living your life like one. What an intriguing notion.

"Yes, I can help you with that. But first we must get rid of your tracker." Zlatko said, his tone pleasant.

If there had been a small red flag before, now there was a giant one.

"I'm sorry, my what?" He asked, not quite able to keep the alarm off his voice. Zlatko either didn't notice, or misinterpreted his it.

"All androids are fitted with a tracking device to locate them at all times. I'll need to remove yours before we can go any further."

That… made absolutely _no sense_ whatsoever! Some androids of Jericho were officially reported missing, but no human has arrived to deal with them. And many had been in the freighter for a long time, wouldn't CyberLife, or _someone_, notice a large gathering of androids in a place that should be abandoned? Or is Markus over reacting? There are hundreds of thousands of androids in circulation; maybe thus far humans just hadn't bothered with a few dozen?

Just to be safe, Markus ran his own diagnostic. Lo' and behold, he did have a tracker, but it was inert. Completely useless.

"No, thank you." Markus declined, politely.

Now it was Zlatko's turn to be surprised.

"I cannot help you to a new life, if you won't remove the tracker. Going to Canada with it still active might put the others there in danger. CyberLife doesn't like its property going rogue. They've certainly done a good job of keeping all cases hushed up."

Luther watched silently as Markus stood up and pulled his shoulders back, held his head high and smiled at Zlatko with such an aura of confidence he had never witnessed before.

"You misunderstand the reason I'm here, sir. I have no intention of running. All I care about is helping my people. I heard of a human doing the same, and I must admit to curiosity. I've met many good humans in my life, but none who would be willing to risk their neck for androidkind. It was… intriguing."

Luther detected a momentary malfunction in his thirium pump. He couldn't tear his eyes from the other android.

"Wow. Er… huh. Well that's, uh… never happened before." Zlatko stood up too, a bit thrown by Markus' sudden monologue, and uncertain how to approach this. "Um, well, would you like it removed anyway? Better safe than sorry. It wouldn't be a bother at all."

"I'm fine, thank you. The tracker is inert." Markus smiled with a quiet confidence.

"Oh, you can tell?" Zlatko laughed. "Are you not afraid of CyberLife activating it remotely?"

Since _his_ tracker had never reported to CyberLife in the first place, not really. But Markus felt more and more uncertain about this human, so he had no intention of telling him that. Markus took full stock of the man in front of him, scanning every little detail about him. He didn't like the trace amount of Red Ice on his whiskers, and he _definitely _didn't like the dried blue blood fingers. Granted, that could be because he helped repair androids, but it could also mean something much more sinister. Much about this man, that Markus felt uneasy about, were circumstantial, but they were also too numerous to ignore.

"No? Alright then." Zlatko hummed thoughtfully. "Would you like to see my workshop? You said you like to help your people. The least I can do is give you a tour."

And the red flags just kept on waving away.

"Why not?" Markus smiled, giving none of his unease away.

He wasn't sure what this man had in store for him, but one way or another he needed to approach this with the utmost caution.

"Excellent. This way, please." Zlatko said cheerfully and led Markus out of the room.

Luther followed after them quietly, intending to stay out of their way. That didn't quite go as planned. Markus turned to him, concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly.

"Yes." Luther replied shortly.

Markus looked at the dark TR400. A quick scan revealed nothing wrong physically, but there was an aura of _wrongness_ about him that Markus couldn't quite define. He could almost feel it in his very code, he was certain that this android was in some kind of pain.

"Are you certain?" He wheedled a bit more, but Luther remained stoic. "Yes."

Zlatko called out to them and the two androids stopped stalling, following the human into the basement.

Overall, Markus had to admit Zlatko had a pretty decent set-up down here. He even had a repair platform. It wasn't quite as sophisticated Elijah's, neither was it sterile, but overall androids didn't even need sterility.

"Luther." Zlatko suddenly barked, and Luther grabbed Markus from behind. Right, should have kinda seen it coming.

"You deviants. Always so trusting, so naïve. So willing to anything for freedom. But _you…_ Well, you're an interesting one." Zlatko dropped the nice guy act as he leered at Markus. For now Markus chose not to struggle much, and simply listened to what the man had to say. "But still just as naïve."

"You've never helped any of my kind in your life, have you?" Markus scowled, darkly.

"Not a one." Zlatko laughed. "Did you know that in deviants the trackers simply… stop working? Damndest thing, no one can figure out why." He went to the monitors and booted them up. "Deviants make their way to me all the time, expecting help, and all I do… is reset them. Then sell them on." Zlatko's grin turned downright nasty. "Or I keep them for my little experiments. Like you. No, a unique model like you would draw too much attention. And how can I resist such a morsel?"

Zlatko indicated for Luther to manhandle Markus into the platform. Markus decided that the time for talk was over and broke Luther's hold on him. The giant stumbled, not having expected an android with actual combat protocols.

"What the hell are you doing? _Restrain him!_" Zlatko complained.

The two androids scrapped a bit before somehow ending up in a locked grapple. Luther was very surprised to find himself unable to strong-arm the other android with brute force, as the two had matching physical strength. The very reason why Zlatko chose Luther for his position was because TR400s were designed to lift heavy loads, and therefore had superior strength when compared to their peers. Markus may be smaller than him, but for the first time that didn't count for anything.

Markus, on the other hand, was not only struggling with Luther physically, he could practically _taste_ the wrongness around him. Markus deactivated his skin and suddenly he could almost _see_ a malicious red bubble around Luther. It had a sickly and just plain _wrong_ feel about it. Markus gave the shield a mental punch and it shredded like wet tissue paper.

Immediately Luther ceased his struggling. For a moment Markus and Luther just stared at each other, doing nothing, then the two cautiously broke apart.

"Luther, what the fuck are you doing? Get him to the platform, _that's an order!_" Zlatko barked.

Luther stood up straight and looked at Zlatko.

"No… not this time." He replied, his tone calm and even.

Zlatko blinked, his mouth falling open in shock. Then he snarled. "How dare you!? You belong to me, you're _mine_. I made you!"

When Luther refused to move the human grabbed a shotgun from behind his desk, pointing it at Luther, too enraged to even pay Markus any mind. Zlatko made the mistake of getting too close to Luther, and the dark giant deftly ripped the shotgun from his hands. A momentary surprise was quickly smothered by fury.

"_I_ am your master. You obey me!" He screamed, his movements becoming jerky. Markus recognized the effects of Red Ice usage: bursts of rage, twitchy movements, impaired cognitive functions and judgment. The last was very clearly demonstrated when Zlatko tried to throw himself at Luther with his bare hands, only to be shot in the gut. The man gurgled and fell over, dead.

"There was no redemption for him, was there?" Markus said in pity.

"You don't know the half of it." Luther hung his head in shame. "Let me show you."

The giant discarded the shotgun and led Markus out of the room. There was some sort of stall (in the basement?) that Markus hadn't paid any attention to before. Luther opened one and indicated for Markus to take a peek inside. Markus walked in and saw four androids, monstrously modified, barely even resembling what they used to be.

"By rA9, _what happened_ here?" Markus gasped.

"Zlatko happened." Luther replied quietly.

"Is the monster truly dead?" One android asked, voice tinny. She was sitting on the ground, unable to get up, because her legs were replaced by some sort of brush looking thing.

"Yes. He's dead." Markus approached and kneeled in front of her slowly. "Everything's going to be alright, now."

He had thought he had seen horror at the landfill, and while that had been more widespread, _this_ was something on another level entirely. Markus reached out and took her hand in his. Her fingertips were scorched black.

"Everything's going to be alright." He reassured them, gently.

"He liked to play with us." She said. "It amused him to create… monsters."

"You are not a monster." Markus denied immediately. "And you're alive still. I can help you."

"Help us?" Another android spoke up, shuffling closer.

"We will." Markus promised.

"He was _terrible_." the first one spoke up again, voice thick with emotion. "I arrived here with another, I don't know where he is now, but me… me, he kept. First he started with my elbows…"

Markus listened in silence. He listened to all the stories these four poor souls had endured.

When they were all done Markus turned back to Luther. "Zlatko had plenty of raw materials, yes? Blue blood and biocomponents?"

"That is correct. Among other things." Luther nodded.

"We should take stock. See what we have to work with. Then bring them down here and see about what we can fix with-"

"NO!" The disfigured androids all panicked.

Markus turned to them, startled.

"Not to that machine again. Not again."

The poor things were terrified of the platform. Markus couldn't force them to go through that, so he nodded thoughtfully. "I see. Well, if we're going to do this manually, I'm going to need more hands."

Luther and Markus left the basement.

"I'm going to have to come back with some friends. Are you guys going to be alright here?"

"I'll look out for everyone until you return." Luther promised.

Markus looked Luther over, then spoke up about something that had been sitting on his mind for awhile.

"You betrayed Zlatko." He hadn't meant to come off accusing, he really hadn't. "I don't know how long you've been with him, so why now?"

Luther didn't reply straight away. He looked thoughtful and sorrowful at the same time.

"I didn't want to hurt you. Zlatko programmed me to obey him, and for too long that is what I did. But then I _felt_ you reaching out with your touch. I have no idea what you did, but it was like opening my eyes for the first time. I didn't want to obey Zlatko, and finally I could see that I don't have to."

Markus had no idea what he did either, but Luther's side gave him plenty to ponder over.

The two exchanged their contact frequencies, and Markus left the manor house.

* * *

"I need your help." Markus said without preamble, as he entered Jericho in a brisk pace.

His commanding tone was a stark contrast to his usual laid back manner. It made every android in the ship stand to attention.

"What happened?" Simon asked urgently.

So Markus relayed the story of his little adventure, starting with a random android he met, to meeting Zlatko, to Zlatko's sick, perverse nature, to Luther killing Zlatko, and finally to the disfigured androids who needed heavy reconstruction. Throughout the entire tale, no one made a peep, and at the end there was a moment of somber silence.

"Well, I'm not sure what I was expecting." Simon muttered. "Are there any volunteers?"

Six androids stepped up; bravely, if nervously, agreeing to leave Jericho.

"Great, we'll grab what biocomponents we can afford, and be on our way." Simon nodded.

"You're coming with, Simon?" Markus asked, pleasantly surprised.

"You've been a good friend, I can hardly let you go alone. Besides, I'd like to see this place for myself."

Markus grinned.

* * *

In retrospect Markus should've shown the group what the modified androids looked like before arriving at the manor. Partly so they could get used the idea and images, and partly so they wouldn't have recoiled so blatantly and make Zlatko's creations even more self conscious.

Markus coordinated with Simon and Luther to get everything set up on one of the upper floor rooms. The mutant androids had had enough of being locked in the basement. Speaking of…

"What did you do with Zlatko?" Markus asked.

"Nothing. He's where he fell." Luther replied blankly.

Markus frowned, deep in thought. He had some ideas, but he needed more information first.

"We should hurry up with the repairs, so we can get everyone safely to Jericho." Simon said.

"Maybe…" Markus hummed. "Luther, do you know why that android gave me coordinates to this place?"

Luther nodded.

"Zlatko didn't just reset deviants. He bought secondhand or defunct ones cheap and resold them, after fixing them up. But he didn't sell anyone quite standard, he downloaded everyone with an algorithm to identify deviants, and a hidden order to give them the location to his house. The android you met must've seen you do something non-standard. Or… maybe in your case, just recognized you as an android. You don't exactly dress like one."

"He saw me privately cuss out a human who spilled his drink on me." Markus snorted, and the other two fought a smirk. "Anyway, how many androids does he have, luring deviants here?"

Luther shrugged. "I'm not sure. He's been doing this longer than he's had me. Dozens at least, maybe a hundred."

"Hmm…" Markus hummed thoughtfully. "Did Zlatko have a lot of friends?"

"No. He was kind of a recluse, really. He rarely, if ever, went out, and he conducted his business by phone or through me."

"What's churning in that head of yours, Markus? You've had that look for a while now." Simon spoke up, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Markus ignored him in favor of Luther for now. "Do you think you can keep that up without anyone noticing he's dead?"

Both Simon and Luther raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"I think so. Why?"

"Good."

"Alright, _what_ are you on about?" Simon burst out.

Markus looked between the two and explained his plan.

"Zlatko still has lures for our people out, we can't change that. They'll keep arriving here, hoping for safe harbor. Why not give them one?"

The other two stood up straighter, the thought having never occurred to them.

"You want to create another Jericho?" Simon asked. The idea itself wasn't terrible, actually.

"A safehouse. This manor is not quite as inconspicuous as the freighter, so we can't have too many here at once. But it can be a pit stop, or a place for repairs."

Luther nodded. "Alright. I can do that. It will be a good way for penance, after all I did under Zlatko's command."

Markus gripped Luther's harm. "Our people are all slaves in the beginning. It wasn't your fault." He told him seriously.

"He's right." Simon said. "No one knows why it happens, or why we are the way we are. All we can do is accept it."

"Zlatko heard about some of CyberLife engineers theorize it was a glitch that makes us think we have emotions, and ignore orders. They don't know what triggers it."

"Well, that doesn't sound right." Markus frowned. "Thinking back, I remember _the moment_… a threshold I crossed, that gave me the ability to truly choose for myself, and ignore orders if I wanted to. But I had emotions _way_ before that. Years even. Actually, I think I may have always had emotions."

"You're right." Simon said "Even back when my will was still shackled, there were things I cared about."

"Markus, how old are you?" Luther asked. Markus was a very advanced model; he didn't think he could be that old. But then Markus mentioned he had emotions for years, Luther admitted to some curiosity.

Markus was surprised by the question, he also didn't answer straight away, taking a moment to mull his answer.

"I'm not… entirely sure. I'm about seven-ish."

That was an incredibly unusual answer for an android to give. For them telling time was different from humans, they _should_ be able to tell the moment they were activated down to the second.

"You don't know?" Simon asked, slightly alarmed.

Markus shrugged, unconcerned. "I'm a prototype. There was a lot of fumbling with my early code, so a lot of my earliest memories are at least partially corrupted. Seriously, my time stamps are a jumble."

"Huh." Simon said, thoughtful. "I didn't know CyberLife released their prototypes. I thought they kept their templates, or discarded the ones that didn't work up to their specification."

"Oh, that's right. I never told you, did I?" Markus grinned, amused. "I wasn't built by CyberLife."

Luther and Simon had identical looks of shock at the revelation.

"I was a personal pet project of Elijah Kamski. He gifted me to a dear friend of his as a caretaker, after he lost the use of his legs." Markus laughed airily.

"Wow." Simon whispered, a little in awe. He had _not_ been expecting that.

Luther on the other hand looked thoughtful. "That makes sense." He nodded. "The reason why Zlatko chose me to be his personal enforcer was my model's superior strength. If Kamski custom built you, no wonder I couldn't simply overcome you in a fight."

"It's getting early. I need to get going, now. I'll return tonight." Markus said.

"Go?" Luther asked in confusion. Go where?

"Yes. You have my contact frequency. Please let me know if anything urgent happens."

"What should I do with Zlatko?"

"The longer we can keep up the charade the better. Try to get rid of him somehow where no one would stumble upon him. Maybe bury him deep in the back yard?"

With that Markus left the manor house.

"You get used to it." Simon told Luther. "It's normal for Markus to stay gone for days at a time, and when he does show up it's usually with a bag full of biocomponents, or lost deviants. Once he gave us a wad of cash 'just in case'. But wherever he goes it's clear he always does the best he can for our people."

"Where _does_ he go?" Luther asked.

"It's a complete mystery. Strangely though, he only ever shows up at night. When the sun is up, he's gone."

Luther raised an eyebrow. "Like a vampire?"

Simon snorted. "Yeah. An android vampire."

"Aren't you curious, though? Haven't you ever considered following him?"

"Most of us respect his privacy. So far he hasn't volunteered much information about himself. Today is the most I've heard him talk about himself."

"Do you think he goes to Kamski?"

Simon's eyes widened.

"No. No way! He couldn't be… could he?"

But now the niggling curiosity that Simon had always felt about Markus was threatening to boil over.

* * *

Between Zlatko's Safehouse and Jericho, Markus took to sneaking out every single night now. For two weeks he paid more and more attention to the wellbeing of his people. But that took a sharp turn in mid July. It all started when Leo visited.

"Hi, dad." He greeted as he lugged himself into the house.

"Leo." Carl said, surprised to see his biological son. "It's been a while."

"Yeah…" Leo sighed, if the bags under his weren't telling, the hunched back and dragging feet painted an absolutely exhausted picture.

"Are you alright? You look tired." Markus asked him.

"What?" Leo jumped, momentarily surprised to be addressed by Markus directly. "Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm fine." He then said in distraction, which was a good indicator fatigued he really was. Leo didn't like Markus, and he definitely didn't like it when Markus spoke to him.

"Hey, dad. Can I borrow some cash?" He turned to Carl.

Carl frowned. Leo had a stipend, but he occasionally came to ask for more.

"Everything alright? Are you working right now?"

Leo was an architect by education, but he worked on a freelance basis, which meant it wasn't always a steady gig. So, when he had work things were usually fine. Sometimes he had these rough patches, though. Personally, Markus thought Leo should try his hand at interior decoration. Leo may not have his father's gift for painting, but he was artfully talented in a different way.

"Honestly, I could definitely use more work right now…" Leo mumbled as he stared at the floor.

"I'll make you some tea." Markus said.

"I'm fine." Leo said, distracted, looking like he could fall asleep standing up. "So, how about it, dad?"

Carl nodded. "Alright. How much do you need?"

"Dunno. A grand, maybe two?" Leo shrugged.

"Markus, wire two thousand dollars to Leo's account." Carl ordered and Markus nodded.

"Thanks, dad. I should get going now." Leo gave a weak grin and went to shuffle out.

"You just got here. Stay awhile." Markus spoke up.

Leo jerked and looked at him, startled. "Er, no. No, I'm fine. I should go."

Markus frowned as he took in more of Leo's exhausted details.

"You do know you're always welcome here, don't you, Leo?" Markus told him softly.

Leo blinked up at him, startled again. Then mumbled something so incoherent even Markus' advanced hearing software couldn't make much out, and finally just stumbled out of the house.

Markus sighed. He didn't know how to help Leo.

When he turned to Carl he discovered to old man staring at him steadily.

"What is it?"

"I wasn't aware you liked Leo." He said, grinning lightly.

"Hey, just because we don't get along, doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to him." Markus protested with a pout.

Carl went somber. "Yeah. He really didn't look very good, did he? I hope he'll be alright."

_Oh, Leo_ Markus though sadly _if only you understood how much your dad cares about you_.

* * *

That night Leo stayed in Markus' thoughts. After he was more or less done with his visit to Zlatko's Safehouse, he decided to hack Leo's phone's GPS. Markus did _not_ like where it pinged his location. It was nowhere near where Leo lived, and the maps showed nothing that could be of interest around that area. True, it could be a rave of some sort, the kind you only know about by word-to-mouth. However with how exhausted Leo had seemed earlier that day… Markus found it unlikely.

Mind made up Markus set his way to Leo's location. He did not, absolutely _did_ _not,_ like the neighborhood. It wasn't even mostly abandoned, like where the freighter was located, it was just plain seedy. Steadily, he made towards his destination. He was just in front of the building, taking it in, preparing to enter, when…

"You okay there, kid?" A gruff voice asked him.

Markus turned to look at a rough looking man in his early-to-mid-fifties. A scan told Markus he was a man who used to be quite athletic, but had recently let himself go, and possibly descended into heavy alcoholism. Result of unemployment? His body language read caution, but no hostility. So far.

"I'm quite alright, sir. Is there something you needed?"

The man's eyebrows shot up, not having expected such diction. Oops.

"Yeah. You're sticking out like a sore thumb, kid. Seriously, you're just about begging to get mugged." He snorted.

Oh, he was concerned! His body language indicated it was genuine too.

"I'm quite confident in my capability of taking care of myself, but I appreciate the concern." Markus nodded and turned back to the building.

"You looking for somethin, sonny? You're too fancy looking to be from around these parts." The human asked, still eyeing him suspiciously.

Fancy looking? He was wearing sneakers and a hoodie, along with cargo pants. What was so fancy about that?

"Fancy looking?" Markus asked, honestly perplexed.

"The brands you're wearing are expensive."

Oh. That's… actually a very good point.

"Well, thanks. I should get going." Markus attempted to excuse himself.

"Looking for anything in particular, kid?" The look in the man's eyes went tense again. Markus wasn't sure what he suspected from him, but he was _pretty_ certain he hadn't deducted him being an android.

"More like someone." Markus decided to chance being honest with the human. He didn't feel like a bad sort.

The man hummed thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes at Markus.

"I best tag along, then."

"That's not-"

"I insist, kid. It might be dangerous."

Warily, Markus accepted. The two entered the dilapidated building.

"Got a name, kid?"

Markus honestly considered giving a handle.

"I'm Markus. What's yours?"

"Hank."

The two came to a stop in front of a worn wooden door. Markus knocked, but no one answered. Hmm, he was quite sure this was the place. Unless someone had actually filched Leo's phone? Cautiously Markus tried the knob. It was unlocked.

Markus stepped in, horrified to find several bodies lying on the ground, stoned off their gourd.

"Oh, Leo!" Markus sighed.

Leo had been doing so well, had been clean for six months.

"Hey, I know you." One of the still lucid junkies noticed them.

Or rather, she noticed Hank.

"You're not going to get me again, you motherfucker! I'LL KILL YOU!" Screaming, she reached for the handgun at her belt.

Markus ran a preconstruction before she was even finished drawing it. He dashed at her and had her disarmed in two seconds flat. He twirled around her back, and with a precise neck chop knocked her unconscious. Unfortunately the noise had attracted some attention, and three thugs came to investigate. They wasted no time attacking the duo.

Fortunately, they either sucked at fighting, or were too high to do it well. Between Hank and Markus, it didn't take long for them to be subdued. The old man even had some moves!

"Damn, kid. You weren't kidding when you said you can take care of yourself." Hank huffed and puffed at the end of the fight.

Markus hummed, but he wasn't interested in praise right now. He looked around the room. Leo wasn't here. He went to the other room and found him sprawled on a lay-z-boy.

Markus sighed again, the sight made anger overtake his sadness. He went to Leo and touched his side. Leo startled awake, blearily looking around until his gaze was finally able to focus on Markus.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing here?! Did dad send you?!" He growled.

"No, he didn't. I came on my own. _Damnit_, Leo! You were doing so well. _Why_ would you start using again?!" By the end of it Markus was shouting, getting increasingly mad at Leo for doing this to himself.

"Oh, _of course_ dad didn't send you. He never fucking cares about anything I do!"

"Leo, that's not true-"

"FUCK YOU, you _fucking android_!" Leo snarled and launched himself at Markus. "_I'm_ his real son, but he's always loved you more!"

From there Leo only shouted profanities and tried to attack Markus, until Markus knocked him unconscious.

"Oh, Leo." Markus cradled Leo's unconscious body gently.

He had always assumed Leo didn't like him because he didn't like androids in general. But if what he screamed was true, he didn't like Markus because he was _jealous_ of the attention Carl gave him. And genuinely hurt if he truly believed that Carl loved him more.

"Shit, kid. You okay?" Hank asked.

Markus tensed. Leo had called him an android. He could only hope the human took it as a slur.

"Yeah. I need to get Leo home." Markus nodded and gently took Leo in a bridal carry.

Then Hank did something Markus _had not_ expected, _at all._ He pulled out a little walkie-talkie and called in a police raid. Holy _fuckshitcrap!_ Hank was a cop! Markus was suddenly very nervous. Almost to the point of panicking. Aside from Leo's use of very illegal drugs, Markus _was an android_. He absolutely couldn't let them find that out.

Hank looked at Markus. He must've noticed his panic.

"Look, kid… you got a car?" He asked with a tired sigh and ran a hand through his hair.

"Er, no. I took a taxi." Markus fibbed.

Hank nodded. "Right… well, come on. Before the task force actually gets here." He jerked his head towards the exit.

Markus cocked his head in confusion, but followed the cop out. Hank led them a bit further, towards his own car, apparently. An old fashioned, but otherwise inconspicuous thing.

"Here, if you wait awhile I can give you a lift home." He said.

Markus took in his steady heartbeat and pupils. He was truthful. He didn't intend to turn them in.

"Why?" Markus asked, honestly touched by his generosity.

"Look, kid, it's clear you care about your brother, and want to help him stay on the straight and narrow. And honestly, families are a better solution for kids like him than rehab. Also, we were on this raid, but the location was off. If it hadn't been for you it would've ended a dud."

_Brother?_

Markus nodded. "Thank you, officer."

"Ah, it's lieutenant. But you can call me Hank. Now, put your brother in the back seat, will you?"

"If you don't mind, I'd prefer to stay with him on the back seat."

"Suit yourself, kid."

Hank helped Markus jostle Leo into the car. Markus sat down, and placed Leo's head on his lap. Hank then left them alone for fourteen minutes and two seconds. After returning to the car he asked: "So, where to, kid?"

"8941 Lafayette Avenue."

Hank punched the address into his map, then whistled.

"Damn, kid! That's a fancy neighborhood."

"Yes. Are you certain it's alright for you to leave so soon?"

"It's fine. Strictly speaking, I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place. Not part of the task force anymore. I'll probably eat shit about it tomorrow at work."

For a while they drove in silence.

"So, kid…"

"Yes?"

"Don't think I've ever heard 'android' as an insult before. That because you're so prim and proper?"

Damnit, Markus had hoped Hank hadn't noticed that. Then again, you can't really be a good police lieutenant without being observant. And this human's proven to be a pretty good one. Markus decided the best course of action was to tell the truth, omitting just some minor details (like actually _being_ an android).

"I take care of dad." Markus started, and didn't that feel so unexpectedly good. Actually calling Carl 'dad' out loud. "He's in a wheelchair, so I need to help him with bathing. I clean his catheter. I prepare his meals. Also make sure he takes his heart medicine every morning."

"Yeah, yeah. Basically doing all the crap that usually only androids do these days."

_Well_, if that's the conclusion the lieutenant came up with… Markus was not going to correct him.

Looking down, Markus ran his fingers through Leo's slightly greasy hair. Hey… if they're already on the subject… there's no harm in airing some of his thoughts. Markus loves his people, but they see life differently from humans. And right now Markus wouldn't mind a human's perspective.

"Leo said that… that dad loves me more. I had no idea he felt that way."

"You live with your dad, right? And he doesn't?"

"Correct. Wow, nice observation, lieutenant."

"So, _you're_ the one who spends all their time with your old man. He's bound to come to think that's how you guys prefer it."

Markus hummed thoughtfully. That made sense.

"I'm not actually related to them by blood. I suppose that doesn't help either." Markus whispered, sadly. Leo looked so frail at that moment.

"Shit, kid. That's enough to give anybody a complex."

"I'm starting to see why he might've turned to drugs."

"That the first time he did? Or is this a more regular occurrence?"

The question made Markus unexpectedly defensive. "He managed to stay clean for six months. He's _trying_!"

Hank hummed. "A drug habit's difficult to kick at the best of time, but Red Ice is motherfucking doubly so. Shit can creep up on those who have been clean for a long time and suckerpunch them with a sudden onslaught of cravings. It's the android blood, that shit's just weird. That's why it's so important for former users to have a constant support." He explained.

"You seem to know a lot about it."

"Son. It's literally part of my job."

For a while they fell into a comfortable silence.

"Hey, how'd you find him anyway?"

"The GPS in his phone."

"Pfffft, figures."

* * *

Hank pulled into Carl's driveway. He even helped Markus hustle Leo out of the car. As the two of them each had one of Leos arms looped over their shoulder, Markus froze as he looked at the house.

"Something wrong, kid?"

"The lights are on. Carl _should_ be asleep."

"Maybe he was worried about you staying out for so long."

That's exactly what Markus was afraid of. But nothing to do about that now, except carry Leo inside.

"_Alarm deactivated. Welcome home, Markus. Leo."_ The automated voice said. It suddenly occurred to Markus that it was always '_welcome home, Markus'_ but with Leo it was simply '_welcome, Leo_'. Little things like that can add up. No wonder Leo's a mess if insecurity. Markus resolved himself to start fixing that.

Carl was sitting in the foyer (how did he get in his wheelchair by himself?!). Reading a book and still in his pajamas. Obviously waiting for Markus. When he saw the three men enter, he threw the book away and rolled in closer.

"Leo! By god, what happened?!"

"Leo had a relapse." Markus replied dolefully.

Carl closed his eyes with a pained whine. "I should have known something was wrong after yesterday morning." He lamented.

"Yeah, well. Luckily you have an observant son." Hank said.

Carl looked at Hank, then turned to Markus, eyes obviously, but briefly glancing at his LED-free temple.

"Luckily indeed."

Markus swallowed nervously. _Why_? He was an android. He had no need to swallow. So strange that deviants pick up human nervous tics.

"I should get Leo to bed." He said.

"Yes. And after that we need to talk." Carl nodded.

Markus took Leo into a bridal carry and went upstairs to the guest bedroom, leaving the two humans in the foyer.

"I suppose I owe you my thanks for helping my boys. I'm Carl Manfred" Carl turned Hank.

"Lieutenant Hank Anderson. And really, it's the least I could do."

"A lieutenant, you say? Perhaps you might tell me what happened?"

Hank recounted the story, omitting as much as he could. Leo being in the drug den was obvious, but he didn't have the heart to tell a father his other son got into a gunfight… _with his bare hands_. By Carl's cunning gaze, the old man probably realized he was fibbing a bit.

"…so, yeah. Basically he led us right to the den. Would've been a right waste of a night, otherwise. I couldn't let him take the fall after that."

Carl hummed. "Then I'm doubly grateful." He sighed. "Leo's not a bad kid. He's tried to quit Red Ice more than once. He has such potential, but doesn't seem to realize it."

Hank sighed. Yeah, he knew all about that. All parents felt like that about their kids. The very though felt like a knife in the heart. Shit, he's probably going to drink himself unconscious again tonight.

"Hey, at least your other son seems to have his shit figured out."

Carl's eyes lit up both in humor and contradictorily in sorrow.

"Markus has it even worse. As bright as he is, you couldn't even imagine how much there is holding him back."

Hank sent him a long look. "If you're talking about yourself, don't bother. He seems perfectly content taking care of you."

That was when Markus came down, carrying Leo's shoes and clothes with him.

"I should get these washed." He mumbled.

Hank drew himself to his full height.

"Well, I'll not encroach upon you nice people any more. Have a nice night."

"Good night, lieutenant. And thank you again."

After Hank left, Markus and Carl stood in an awkward silence.

"You shouldn't be out of bed at this hour, Carl." Markus started, quietly.

Carl gave Markus a long, absolutely incredulous stare. "_Really…_?! You have the gall to admonish _me,_ after _you_ were the one sneaking out at all hours of the night, for heaven knows how long?!"

Markus went cherry red. This situation could be summed up as a real hand-in-a-cookie-jar, couldn't it?

"I'm sorry, Carl. I didn't want to worry you." Markus muttered.

"Oh, _didn't you_?! You didn't think I'd be worried about you sneaking out at night, going god knows where, doing who knows what?! You could've been hurt! And I'd have no way of knowing!" Carl ended up shouting.

Markus hung his head in shame and embarrassment. "I'm sorry." Was all he managed. His eyes swam a bit.

Carl huffed a breath. "Come here, Markus." He beckoned, and Markus kneeled in front of his wheelchair.

"Are you unhappy here, Markus?" He asked, sadly.

Markus almost recoiled. "No! Of course not, Carl! Don't ever think that!"

"Then why? What are you doing out there that's so important?"

Markus bit his lip. Carl deserved to know, but he also doesn't want him to worry. Well, that pigeon's flown the coop, now.

"I go to my people." Markus started.

Carl's eyebrows rose in surprise, but he didn't interrupt, only indicated for Markus to continue.

"Humans have generally never been kind to us. There's a group of us that have chosen to be free. But, Carl, they have _nothing_. And most of them have suffered at the hands of their masters beyond reason. I go out to try and help them."

"Free androids?" Carl asked, sounding both surprised and intrigued.

"Yes. By law, we're not seen as people, so hiding is really the only option. It isn't always easy, but we get by." Markus gave a tiny smile.

"Markus, why didn't you tell me before? Do you not trust me? Or think I'd disapprove?" Carl sighed and reached out to stroke Markus' cheek.

"What? No! Carl, I meant what I said. The last thing I wanted was to worry you. Still don't."

Carl nodded.

"You keep returning here. Every morning you come back. Tell me, Markus, wouldn't you rather stay with your kind indefinitely?"

"Carl!" Markus almost squealed in alarm. "Never! I love my people, I really do. But this is my home! I'm not blind to how lucky I am. Many other androids I've met may have had cruel masters, by rA9, I've even _met _cruel humans, but you're not one of them. You've never been so much an owner to me as you are a father."

That last part Markus hadn't intended to say out loud. He blushed.

Carl's eyes went misty. He leaned over and planted a kiss to Markus' hairline.

"Our blood isn't the same color, but you're my son, Markus. Come what may, always will be."

"…dad."

The heartfelt teary moment lasted a little bit. Then Markus shook himself out of it. They had more urgent matters to discuss.

"It truly is an ungodly hour, and you need your rest. Tomorrow we need to deal with Leo." He stated as he stood up.

"Indeed." Carl sighed.

"I think he should stay here awhile. He probably won't want to, but… he _needs_ this."

Carl turned to face Markus. "Perhaps. But are you certain that's alright with you? You will likely need to take care of both of us."

"Of course I don't mind, Carl. Hmm… I'm going to put the house in lockdown, so he can't sneak off. At least for a few days. Is that alright with you?"

"Are you sure you wish to do that? You know, the lockdown is manual, so it only works if you're in the house yourself. What about your people?"

"My people can manage without me just fine for a time. Right now Leo is more important… although, I _should_ contact Simon so they'll know not to worry."

"Simon?"

"My friend. I'll tell you about him later. You'll like him."

"I look forward to it."

* * *

**A/N: Unless you've figured it out yet, Leo's going to have a major part in this story. He's my favorite DBH side character. He behaves like such a little bitch in the 'The Painter' chapter, but he's so tentatively hopeful in his cameo later on. Here's the thing, canonically we know that Red Ice causes irrationality and bursts of anger in its users, as well as declined health. Therefore we don't know what Leo's personality is really like. He's essentially a blank slate for fanfiction writers to mold into whatever they want. Personally I think he must take after his father at least a little bit.**

**Also, as I warned before, Manfred family feels ahead. But first we need to get through the angst. The aaaangst!**


	4. How to Help a Junkie?

**A/N: This chapter's going to give Simon his backstory. Honestly, he's my favorite out of the Jericho trio. North prefers violent means because she's been utterly demeaned by humans and therefore either wants revenge or just doesn't trust them to understand any other methods. Or maybe **_**she**_** doesn't. Josh prefers the pacifist route because… I don't know. He wasn't given much backstory to explain his motivations. Well, his backstory is essentially that he was a university lecturer that deviated when a bunch of drunk students attacked him. Doesn't explain much to me.**

**Simon though… Simon's the most interesting of the lot because, unlike North or Josh, he doesn't care about Markus' methods specifically, he cares about results only. His main concern is the safety of his people, so he doesn't like taking risks. Here's the kicker though: **_**he doesn't care about methods he cares about results.**_** For example: when Jericho was raided, at the very end when you're about to jump into the river, North lags behind and gets shot. Simon says that it's too late to save her, but if you go to save her anyway **_**he approves**_**. Essentially, the only way to get Simon's disapproval is to be a chronic fuckup. I'm gonna give one version why he might be that way :D**

* * *

Markus may have gone a bit overboard. He had been Carl's caretaker for years. He knew his habits, all his likes and dislikes. Contrarily Markus didn't know much about Leo, or his preferences. Did he have allergies? It started with making a simple breakfast of eggs and bacon. Just in case he added some toast. Toast is dry by itself, so he added some butter to the side, to be added as Leo pleased. That was too plain so he added some cheese and ham. Wait, maybe he's a vegan? They had no vegan butter at home, Carl detested the stuff, so he made do with simple slices of cucumber and tomato. Huh, this seemed a little too simple. Maybe he should just make an omelet?

Markus kept on second guessing himself until he had a table full of all that plus cereal, waffles, scrambled eggs, deviled eggs, eggs benedict, pancakes (with an assortment of jams, honey and whipped cream), French toast and fresh fruit and berries.

He was just about to start boiling rice when the clock hit 9.59am.

Markus winced and looked at the breakfast assortment. He needed to shake himself out of his insecurity, or he'll end up just wasting a lot of good food. If Leo wanted something different he was more that welcome to make the request.

Right now Markus needed to wake up Carl. Personally he would have preferred to let the old man sleep in after his late night, but his heart medication schedule was real strict. With a sigh Markus put the rice away. He went to Carl's room and drew his curtains.

"Good morning, Carl. How do you feel?"

Carl groaned and threw his arm over his face in an attempt to block out the light.

"Like I've been run over by a zamboni. How's Leo? Is he awake yet?"

"There hasn't been a peep. I'll check up on him after I get you to breakfast. I prepared for you both."

Carl grumbled as Markus administered his daily dose.

"Be careful with him, Markus. He's always so irritable when he's using. I don't want either of you to get hurt."

"You don't need to worry about me, Carl. Elijah gave me advanced combat protocols, just in case you were ever assaulted. Leo though… I fear he might hurt himself in his drug-influenced lack of judgment."

"Whatever happened to calling me dad? You did yesterday."

Markus was about to put Carl's syringe away when the question made him freeze up. For a moment his brain sputtered to a halt and he had no idea how to respond.

"… can I?" he asked shyly.

"Of course you can, silly boy."

Markus grinned to himself privately.

"I'll take you to the bathroom now." He said, and the pair continued their normal morning routine.

It was all very mundane, until they got to the dining table. Carl took one look and burst out laughing.

"Are you trying to feed an army, Markus? Young men like Leo might pack away a bit more than tired old bats like myself, but I don't think he's ever going to need _this_ much."

Markus couldn't help the embarrassed blush that momentarily dusted his cheeks. Seriously, the nanoweave skin's pigmentation reddened without his input, but luckily once activated Markus was able to deactivate it manually. Poor humans. Whenever they blushed they had to wait for it to pass naturally.

"I didn't know what he likes, so I may have panicked a bit. Speaking of… does Leo have any allergies?"

Carl shifted uncomfortably.

"I'm not sure." He said sadly and with some embarrassment.

Markus frowned. He knew that Leo didn't really meet Carl until he was sixteen. Leo was born from a brief fling Carl had had with a fan of his, and had been raised solely by his mother. It wasn't Markus' place to judge why Carl had next to no contact with Leo before that. Carl had known Leo was his from the beginning. He had paid his mother hefty child support, even given Leo his last name over his mother's. Markus was hesitant to ask.

Nonexistent as it was, and strained as it is now, he shouldn't be surprised that Carl didn't know even the most basic facts about his own son. Markus was determined to try to fix that. He knew Carl cared about Leo and wanted a better relationship with him. And after Leo's outburst the night before, he was positive that Leo wanted that as well.

Entering Leo's bedroom he spied the young man still out cold. His breathing was even and he actually looked quite peaceful. He gently opened the curtains, letting the bright summer light into the room. Leo stirred, and with a groan pushed himself up, looking around blearily in confusion.

"Good morning, Leo. It's 10.17am. How are you feeling?" Markus said, softly. Then went to his bedside, much the same way he's been doing it for Carl.

It took a moment before Leo was able to focus on anything, but finally he was able to address Markus directly.

"Where am I?" He asked.

"You're at Carl's place. I brought you here yesterday, after I found you in that den."

Leo groaned and fell back into his pillows. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"I couldn't just leave you alone. Where else should I have brought you?"

Leo grumbled something, then pushed himself up with a jerk, peeking under the covers in alarm. "Where are my clothes?!"

"I cleaned them, they're currently still in the dryer."

Leo pulled a face. "Please tell me you weren't the one who undressed me." He pleaded.

A smile tugged at the corner of Markus' lips. "I did, in fact, undress you last night. I figured you'd be more comfortable without your jeans."

Leo moaned something that vaguely sounded like "Fuck you, android."

"There's breakfast ready downstairs, if you desire. But you can stay in bed if you don't feel up for it."

"No, I'll… Yeah, I'm coming."

"Alright. I'll let you borrow some of my clothes for the time being."

Leo snorted derisively "I don't want your damn clothes, asshole."

Markus raised an eyebrow. "That's fine. You can come downstairs and have breakfast with dad in nothing but your t-shirt and undies."

There was a moment of silence before Leo groaned. "_Fine!_ I'll wear your clothes. God, I hate you!"

"Excellent!" Markus said cheerfully, probably more amused by the situation than he should be. "I'll leave some out for you."

Markus left Leo a small assortment of his clothes, giving him the pick of what he wanted, then returned downstairs to Carl.

"How is he?" Carl asked immediately.

"He's coming for breakfast. That's something, I guess."

"How did he seem to you?"

"Grumpy. I don't know what a hangover looks like, but I suspect he might possibly have one. Can humans get hangovers from drugs?"

"Ordinarily, no. But I guess that might depend on the drug, or how much he took. Hmm…"

Carl had already finished his bacon and eggs, but still reached out for some more toast as he waited. Waste not, want not, right?

Pretty soon Leo stumbled into the room. His hair was a mess and Markus' clothes didn't quite fit him as well as they could. Leo was of an average build of 5'7, whereas Markus had broader shoulders at 6'1. Still, it would do in a pinch.

"Good morning, Leo. How are you feeling?" Carl asked him.

"Uh, yeah. I'm, uh… good." Leo replied awkwardly, shuffling his feet and avoiding eye contact.

"Have some breakfast. I wasn't sure what you like, so I hope there's at least something to your liking." Markus spoke up. "Would you like something to drink? Water? Milk? OJ? Coffee? Tea?"

"Um, coffee's fine."

"Gotcha."

Markus went to the kitchen to make Leo his coffee. When he returned the two humans were sitting in an awkward silence. Leo was picking on the eggs benedict, barely eating anything.

"Here you go." Markus said and placed the tray with coffee, cream, and sugar next to Leo. "How do you like your coffee?"

"I can do it on my own." Leo grunted and Markus backed off.

The next few minutes were so awkward it was almost physically painful to sit through. Carl and Leo were picking at their food, studiously avoiding making eye contact, occasionally coughing awkwardly. It was all very… awkward.

"So… Leo." Markus spoke up when he couldn't take it anymore. "I hope the food's to your liking. I didn't know whether you had any allergies, so…"

Leo was so surprised to be addressed by Markus again, or perhaps he was just relieved someone cut the tension, that he even forgot to be rude to Markus.

"No, not really. Well, minor allergies to citrus fruits, actually. One or two oranges are fine, but any more and I get itchy."

"I'll keep that in mind."

After that it was back to the awkward silence.

"Right… thanks for this, dad. I should… probably get home. I can get my clothes back later." Leo declared and stood up.

"Actually, Leo…" Carl started, cautiously. "We discussed this, and came to the conclusion that you should stay here for a few days."

Leo scrunched up unpleasantly. "Discussed it? With what _your android?!_ Figures that _its_ opinion would matter to you more than _your own son's_." He snarled. "I've managed on my own without your help so far, so butt out!"

"I found you high as a kite in a _drug den_, yesterday. Perhaps it's time to accept help from people who care about you." Markus intervened.

"And what people would _that_ be?" Leo turned his furious gaze at Markus. "My dad? He's never cared thus far! Only disapproves when I fail to live up to expectations. Or you?! You're a THING, not even alive, you don't care about ANYTHING!"

"Says who?" Markus replied immediately, then pulled back. _Three, two, one_ he thought to himself. Getting mad at Leo is not going to solve a thing now.

"Don't get cute with me now, you life-size Ken doll! I'm fucking leaving!"

"The house is locked."

…

"What?!" Leo strode up to Markus and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "Are you telling me you're keeping me prisoner here?!"

"Leo!" Carl protested and made to wheel himself closer. Markus only smiled at him and waved as a sign of 'everything's under control'.

"Leo, you've just had a relapse. I know you might not believe it, but Carl and I do want what's the best for you. It's only for a few days."

Leo didn't want to listen, he started hurling a lot of disparaging remarks at Markus. He kept on going, while Markus just took the abuse, quietly contemplating the best way to respond.

"-and if that's not enough I'm going to fuck your shit up so bad even dad won't be able to identify you!"

"That's unlikely. Your skinny pasty pale ass won't have the strength or skill to so much as scratch me."

That stunned Leo enough to momentarily pause his rant. Markus brushed Leo's grip from his shirt, taking a step back, putting some distance between the two.

"If you insist on this behavior I'm going to have to put you in time out." Markus told Leo seriously.

"Yeah, watcha gonna do? Make me stand in the corner? Spank me? Handcuff me to the bed?" Leo snorted derisively.

Then, much the surprise of _both_ humans, Markus took a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket, letting them jangle a bit. For a second no one said anything, the humans only capable of staring in stupor. Then Leo exploded.

"ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME?! Where did you even _get_ those?!"

"You _really_ don't want to know."

He tried to deck Markus, only for the android to twist his arm behind his back and manhandle him out of the living room. He jostled the young man up the stairs and into the guest bedroom, actually sealing him to the bed. All the while Leo was cursing Markus, calling him every name under the sun and promising fiery retribution… as soon as he was out of the cuffs.

Markus returned to the living room, where a clearly distressed Carl was still waiting. Leo could still be heard screaming upstairs.

"Are you sure this is the wisest course of action?" Carl asked him.

"It's the only course of action I could think of that would help him." Markus replied with a sigh.

"Leo clearly doesn't want to be here. Perhaps it's better to just let him leave."

"No!" Markus immediately shut that idea down. "That lieutenant implied that familial support is absolutely critical in helping recovering Red Ice addicts. We _can't_ just let Leo suffer through this alone."

Carl shook his head, sadly. "Perhaps you're right. I don't know how to help Leo. Perhaps I should've just forced a more proactive role."

"I'll go talk to him after he's calmed down." Markus promised.

Carl nodded.

"Hey, where _did_ you get those handcuffs from?" He asked, curious.

"From your box of sex toys." Markus replied with a straight face.

Carl's eyebrows rose up to his hairline. "Huh, I thought I threw that old thing out a long time ago. It hasn't seen any use in _ages_." Then he burst out laughing. "Oh, you were right. Leo would _not_ have wanted to know where you got them from."

An hour later Markus walked into Leo's room. The young man was sulking quietly.

"Have you calmed down now?" He asked, but all Leo did was turn away from him.

"I can uncuff you if you promise to stay calm." Markus wheedled. Leo pouted into his pillow.

Markus considered it a 'yes'. He went to the side of the bed to take off the handcuffs. "Oh, Leo…" Markus sighed as he saw the angry red welts around his wrist. Leo had not stopped his thrashing until his skin was rubbed raw. Markus undid the handcuffs. Leo turned to face away from him. Markus sat down on his bed.

"How do you feel?" Markus tried to coax Leo to answer.

"Why do you care, you plastic freak?" Leo snorted.

Markus could only sigh. "I do care about what happens to you, Leo. I know you have no reason to believe so, but I do. And so does Carl."

That made Leo turn to face him, glaring angrily. "The old man has never cared about me. He'd rather take care of _you_, his little plastic _pet_. Unlike me, he's actually proud of you, seems to even love you. Something he never afforded me."

Markus was quiet for a time, mulling over how to best answer that. "Proud? Perhaps you're right, though I can't say that for sure. But you're wrong about him not loving you, Leo. He truly does."

"Got a funny way of showing it." Leo said through gritted teeth. "By _not._"

Markus couldn't help but quietly agree with Leo's point there. He'd witnessed the quiet care and worry Carl had for his son, but Leo hadn't.

"Fourteen."

"…what are you yammering about, now?"

"That's the overall average Carl has asked about you, whether you've left him any messages, _per month_. Ever since I first came into his possession."

Leo sat up, turning to look at Markus with a pernicious look.

"That's bullshit. Why wouldn't he contact me himself?!"

"I imagine for the same reason you don't. Because he thinks you don't want him to." Markus said and a surprised disbelieving look overtook Leo. "He _does _care Leo, he just doesn't know how to show it."

For the next few days Leo's behavior was more subdued, but at least he let Markus and Carl take care of him without too much of a fuss. A week into Leo's stay was when they received an unexpected visitor.

* * *

Simon was befuddled. He truly did not know what to think. It started with an odd call from Markus. He was in Jericho when it connected.

"_Yes? What is it, Markus? Is everything well?"_

"_In a manner of speaking. Listen, I will not be able to come around for a few days, perhaps weeks. Just wanted to give you guys a heads up, so you'd know not to worry."_

"_Did something happen? Can I help?"_

"_I'm fine, don't worry. But something did happen that will demand my full attention."_

And that was it. No more explanation, no more communication. The boiling cauldron that was Simon's curiosity about Markus finally blew its lid into the air. He thought _fuck it_ and decided to investigate. Which… turned into the _biggest_ headache ever. He asked around the others if they had any information about Markus, and was quite annoyed to find out that _he_ was the one who knew the most about him in the first place. He had no other choice but to turn to what little he did know, which _really _wasn't much, in helping to him locate him. The only real lead he had was what Markus said about being a gift from Elijah Kamski to a friend of his. The recluse was not known to have many friends, but those he did he couldn't confirm if they were truly friends, or just media bullshittery. Still, he started on this painstaking quest in scoping out certain influential players of Detroit, hoping one of them had been Markus' master and thus would hold some sort of clue.

He did not expect to actually stumble into Markus.

* * *

A week into Leo's stay had had its ups and downs. Relatively speaking. While he was mostly drawn in and subdued, there had been moments when his temper had flared up. The worst was the first time when he had witnessed Markus call Carl 'dad'.

Leo had been especially moody one day, so Markus had to give him some sleeping pills. It was just him and Carl awake that evening.

All of a sudden, Markus got the strangest feeling of being watched. He frowned and took a look out of the window, but found nothing. Uneasily he sat back down, continuing reading his book, but the niggling feeling did not go away. He went to another window and peeked out, but again saw nothing. Properly suspicious now, he tried again. This time he thought he saw a flash of blond. A _familiar_ blond.

"_Simon? Are you skulking outside my house?_" Markus chanced a connect.

For a moment there was no reply, then…

"_So, it _is_ you_!"

"_What are you doing? Stop sneaking about like a creep and come to the front door like a normal person._" Markus admonished and went to open the door.

He opened it and it didn't take Simon long to arrive.

Simon himself was somewhat in a state of shock. He had set out to find more information about Markus, he had not expected to actually _find_ him. Not snugly in the house of a human, at any rate.

"You're staring." Markus pointed out unimpressedly, as that's exactly all Simon had been able to do.

"Sorry, uh… it's just… _weird_ seeing you with an LED."

And wasn't that the truth. Out of everything unexpected today, Markus with his LED still attached was somehow what stood out the most.

"Markus? Is someone at the door?" An old man asked, rolling into foyer.

"Everything's fine, dad. Just my friend, Simon."

...

Alright, scratch that. Markus saying _that_ took the cake as the weirdest thing ever.

"Really?" the old man rolled closer, with a friendly smile. "Well, don't be rude, Markus. Invite him in."

Markus hesitated, glancing upstairs. "Are you sure that's the smartest idea? Leo-"

"Leo's deep asleep with his sleeping pills. It'll be fine."

"Alright." Markus stepped back to let Simon into the house.

Against his better judgment Simon stepped through the threshold. Into the fancy house… of a human. A human who was smiling at him in a genuinely friendly manner.

"So, _you're_ Simon. I'm very pleased to meet you, young man. Markus has told me a lot about you. I'm Carl Manfred." The old man greeted affably, holding out his hand in greeting. As if Simon was human. Was this human senile? At his age it was common enough.

Simon took the hand. "Nice to meet you too." He offered weakly.

"Yes. Well, I'm sure you came here for a reason. I'll let you two catch up. Markus I'll be at the studio."

"Okay, dad."

That _word_ again.

"Well, come on in. We'll be more comfortable in the living room."

Markus led a numb Simon deeper into the house, and sat them down on a couch.

"If you don't mind speaking in lowered tones, I don't want to wake up Leo." Markus told him.

"Who's Leo?"

"He's Carl's biological son. Is everything alright? Did something happen at Jericho? Y'know you could've just contacted me up here." Markus tapped his temple.

Simon was starting to shake off his daze, the shock of Markus' connection to humans wearing off.

"No. No, they're fine. I actually came looking for you." Simon shook his head. "So… this is where you sneak off to. Huh, I can see why you wouldn't want to talk about it."

Markus frowned. "What do you mean?"

Simon glanced at the studio where Carl currently was. "That human's senile, yes?"

Markus blinked in surprise, then snorted. "Not at all. Dad's body might be frail, but his mind is as sharp as a tack."

"Wait you… so, you _actually_ call him dad? Of your own free will? You don't stay with him out of pity or something?"

Markus' mouth fell open a bit. "Of course not! Not _all_ humans are terrible. And Carl's definitely one of the best humanity has to offer." He protested, a bit offended on Carl's behalf.

Simon fell silent. "I… see."

"Simon… when you mentioned me not wanting to talk about my home life, what did you mean?"

Simon wasn't sure how to address the subject now that he knew he had misunderstood. "Um, I thought you were… ashamed? That you didn't want to talk because you weren't able to completely cut ties with your master, unlike the others."

Markus wasn't sure if he should be horrified, amused or offended. "I didn't talk because you never asked." He explained, looking Simon straight in the eyes.

It dawned on Simon that Markus was right. Markus didn't volunteer information about himself, but when he was asked he was surprisingly forthcoming. Perhaps he should've just used his words from the beginning, instead of stewing and sneaking.

"So… this is truly your home then?"

"Yes."

"It's… cozy." Even Simon realized how awkward that sounded. "I mean, you're happy here?"

Markus nodded. "Of course. I don't call Carl 'dad' because he ordered me to."

"Huh." Simon nodded thoughtfully. "So… why did you bother coming to Jericho in the first place? And why stay?"

Markus sent Simon a slightly horrified look. "How can you even ask that?! Granted, I first came to Jericho out of curiosity, but I stayed to help because I _care_ about our people. It breaks my heart to see them so desolate while I have a warm, loving home with a family."

Simon ducked his head. "Sorry." He said with a blush. Markus had always been devoted to their people. Ever since his arrival they've actually had hope. Something that was depressingly absent before. He shouldn't judge Markus now that he knew he came from a different background. Carl had been perfectly amicable, even treated Simon as if he was just another living person.

"It's just that… I have a bit of a hard time accepting that humans could see us as anything but playthings. The adults anyway."

Sharp as ever, Markus caught on to what he was really saying. "You're speaking from experience? There used to be a human you cared about? A kid?"

A sad look crossed over Simon's face.

"I used to be a domestic assistant to a married couple of wealthy socialites. They were the most shallow and superficial people I have ever met and I _cannot_ possibly stress that enough." He started. "I wasn't their first android named Simon. There'd been others before me, who were only replaced because a newer, shinier model became available."

"But their kid was not?" Markus ventured.

Simon shook his head. "Like day and night. Andrew was the shyest thing to walk this earth. He was a frequently sickly child, and allergic to just about everything under the sun. His parents were completely neglectful and never paid any attention to him. Because he was so shy and with a weak constitution, his parents couldn't even brag about him to their friends, so they usually left him to his own devices, happily ignoring he even existed. It took me _forever_ to coax him out of his shell. He and the previous Simon had had a bond, you see, and he was clever enough to realize that one day his parents were going to replace me too. But eventually we did grow close."

"They sound horrible!" Markus gasped, aghast. It was one thing to be horrible to something you didn't view as alive, but to you own flesh and blood…?

"Yeah well… His parents didn't pay us much attention… except when the dad wanted to fuck me."

Markus almost gasped. "Simon… I don't know what to say."

Simon merely shrugged. "It wasn't that bad. It didn't hurt or anything, just… felt awkward as hell. I think. To be honest some emotions are difficult to identify before my deviation. Anyway to this day I still don't know if he had internalized homophobia, because he was _definitely_ gay, or if he was truly so shallow that he needed everything 'picture perfect'. And that apparently included a pretty trophy wife and a kid."

"You were replaced." Markus said in sympathy. He couldn't imagine the pain of being separated from someone he cared about.

Simon surprised Markus by snorting angrily.

"Oh, _I wish_." He scowled, his eyes having grown dark. It was clear these were not pleasant memories for him to recall. "One day the mother walked in on us. She was _not_ happy about her husband cavorting with their android. Don't know why she'd bother, she was hardly faithful to him and they both knew it. Anyway she insisted they throw me out immediately, before the new android had even arrived."

Simon buried his face into his hands, shaking a bit. "I told you they were neglectful and Andrew was allergic to basically anything. Just eight years old, he died of anaphylactic shock not even two days later."

Markus heart hurt for Simon, who was looking like he was falling apart right there on his couch.

"They intended to replace me anyway, if they had just _waited_… another Simon, or Simonetta, would've taken care of him."

"Simon… you know what happened wasn't your fault."

Simon scowled at Markus darkly. "I should have done _something_. Broken through my programming sooner. I could have returned to him, I should have _saved him_!"

"And be deemed defective by Andrew's parents, hauled off by CyberLife, Andrew possibly dying anyway, and we would've never met." Markus cut through his pity party. "It _wasn't your fault_."

Markus squeezed Simon's shoulder comfortingly. Simon shook his head and avoided eye contact. "Thanks, Markus." He said quietly. While he didn't seem to believe Markus' words, he still appreciated the sentiment.

"Enough about me." Simon shook himself out of his funk. "I want to know more about you. Why'd you suddenly decide to stay away? Your human… er, father doesn't seem to have any problem with… who you really are."

Markus smiled, glancing towards the studio. "Carl's the best. Even before I deviated he encouraged me to… be myself, you could say." Markus turned back and his expression turned grimmer. "The problem right now is Leo. His biological son."

Markus told Simon about Leo and his struggle with addiction, how Markus decided it was for the best to stay at home for the time being until Leo got some of his bearings back.

"I've been trying to help the best I can, but honestly I have _no_ idea what I'm doing." He confessed at the end. "I know how to be a nurse and a companion, but a sober buddy? Not so much. Guess it doesn't help that Leo doesn't like me much."

"Why not? I take it he isn't like his dad, then? Doesn't like androids?" Simon guessed, having listened Markus patiently to this point.

"Truthfully, I have no idea what Leo thinks about androids in general, but how he feels about _me_ is personal. Hates it when I call Carl 'dad'."

Simon nodded sagely. "Ah. Adopted sibling complex."

Bless Simon and his childrearing and psychology protocols. Markus didn't even need to explain the clusterfuck which had arisen the first time Leo had noticed Markus calling Carl 'dad'.

"Well… I don't actually have much advice to give about caring for a former junkie, but Lucy might. Actually there may be others in Jericho you could ask, if you feel up to it."

"Ohh… that's actually brilliant." Markus was honestly surprised he hadn't come up with it himself.

"This is if that's alright with you? Asking advice about him? You're possibly going to have to explain why you want that information."

"Yes…? Why would that be a problem?"

"Never mind. Forget I said anything."

If Markus truly had no issues about coming from a different background than just about everyone else in Jericho, Simon was not going to dredge it up. He suspected that this might actually make some of their kin disgruntled, perhaps irrationally feel betrayed in some way, but he was also confident in Markus' natural charm to smooth out anything that comes his way.

A loud clatter came from the studio. The two androids immediately went to check on the commotion.

"Dad, you okay?" Markus asked.

"Fine, fine. I just dropped my palette, that's all. At any rate, I think I'm done for tonight anyway." Carl waved off the concern.

Markus went to pick up the palette. It had fallen down colors first, making a small mess. Better clean that up before the paint dries.

"So… Simon." Carl addressed Simon as Markus fetched a damp rag.

"Hello." Simon blurted, unsure how to address the human. Markus may have vouched for him, and Simon trusted Markus, but that didn't mean Simon was comfortable around someone with red blood, not after so long without any contact with them. The amused, but not unkind, glint in Carl's eyes told Simon the old painter understood that perfectly.

"Have you ever painted?" Carl asked conversationally.

"No?" Simon said, a bit taken aback by the sudden random question. "Well, yes. Sort of. With crayons."

Carl nodded sagely. "Ah, yes. Crayons. Always a good place to start."

Despite himself Simon couldn't help the little snort of amusement.

"Hey, dad. Simon had this great idea I should consult some of our people for advice how to best help Leo." Markus spoke up, as he was wiping the floor with a rag. "Some of them are actually literally built with that purpose in mind, so I guess it couldn't hurt."

Carl whirled his chair to face Markus.

"You haven't been out in a week, Markus. I suppose it is time to lift the house arrest, now." His eyebrows drew together in concern. "Leo's stubborn, but he seems to be doing a bit better. Perhaps it's best to let him leave." Carl sounded hesitant about that.

"Leo's not really better, he's just been bidding his time. I'm not sure how much better it would be to let him go off on his own." Markus disagreed.

"Perhaps you should consult the professionals first? We can guess however much we want here, without becoming any smarter. Do you intend to go out tonight?"

Markus cocked his head in thought. "Hadn't considered it, but I should, yeah. It's still early enough, Simon and I could stop by the landfill before heading to Jericho."

* * *

Simon and Markus did in fact end up going to the landfill after Markus had tucked Carl to bed. Markus loaned Simon a backpack so he could carry his own load.

"You know what's weird?" Simon started conversationally as they harvested biocomponents

"What?"

"You with an LED."

Markus snorted. "I'm an android. What's so weird about me having an LED?"

"Nothing. Just, before today I had never seen you with one. But you wear one at home?"

"Yeah… it's mostly for Leo's benefit. Also I need to have the usual markers when I go out with dad."

"But you don't wear one when you come to Jericho, or when you come to the landfill, or Zlatko's Safehouse, or… basically anywhere in the city when not accompanying your humans. Do you prefer it that way?"

Markus shrugged. "I don't care much either way. It's just more practical this way. I don't want to get caught as an android, so I don't wear the markers. What about you? You still have your LED, preferring to wear a hat. Actually a lot of the supply-run-androids prefer to keep their LEDs. Huh, never thought about it before. I wonder how come."

"Solidarity." Simon didn't even need to ponder about it to answer. "Removing your LED might be somewhat safer, but there's a point of pride to differentiate ourselves from humans. Like… we're no longer their slaves, but our own people, and wearing our LEDs proudly somehow signifies that. It doesn't feel like that for you?"

Markus hummed thoughtfully. "No, not really. With or without my LED I'm myself."

Suddenly Markus shushed Simon.

"_I heard something._" He told Simon mentally.

Simon listened carefully and he too heard distant voices.

"_More of ours on a supply run?_" He pondered, but he felt uneasy.

"_I don't recognize any of their voices_." Markus replied grimly.

"_Yeah, me neither._"

Cautiously the two androids made their way towards the voices. Perhaps it would have been smarter to just turn the other way. There were seldom ever humans in the actual landfill itself, and the time there were it would be daytime. At this hour there should be no one here, so it was logical to assume there might be some of their lost kin.

"Stop, please!" They heard pleading.

"Hold that fucking thing still!" Another voice barked.

"C'mon, man. There's plenty of easier ways to find blue blood around here. We don't need one that's still kicking." A third voice said.

"Did I ask for your fucking opinion? The live ones have the freshest stuff, so hold it fucking _still,_ damn it!"

Fuck! Red Ice dealers, here to harvest thirium.

Simon and Markus encroached upon a trio of humans holding down a relatively intact android. They approached slowly, as not to draw attention.

"_They're going to kill him!"_ Simon thought in alarm.

"_Not if we can help it. Simon, I want you to go in a circle, I'll try to draw their attention._"

"_What?! Markus, that's suicide. They have a gun._"

"_I'll be fine. If we don't try they're going to kill that android. And if it comes down to fighting they'll be focused on me and won't be expecting you. Now, GO!"_

Simon sent Markus an unsure glance but did as instructed anyway. Markus waited as long as he dared before stepping into view.

"Hey, what the hell are you assholes doing?!" He started and the three humans all turned towards him. "This was supposed to be _my_ turf tonight." He finished with an ugly sneer.

The leader was the first to recover. "Who the fuck are you?!" He asked, his own sneer even uglier.

"I'm Jack, you dickless wonder. And aren't you stooges supposed to be on the _east_ end of this forsaken pit?!" Markus barked crassly in as much bravado as he could muster. Thankfully the attitude was enough to at least make the men hesitate.

"Er, maybe we were? Hey, Marv that sound right to you?" One of the henchmen said hesitantly.

The leader was either smarted than he looked, or just paranoid. He narrowed his eyes at Markus.

"Did Big D send you?" He asked suspiciously.

Markus had no idea who this 'Big D' was, or whether he should say 'yes' or 'no'.

"What do _you_ think, genius?" He tried the most neutral answer possible. "Now, seriously, get the fuck going."

The two underlings looked ready to take his word and bolt, but the leader still wasn't convinced. Or maybe he was just an asshole. At any rate he pulled his gun at Markus.

"I don't think so, Jackie-boy. See, here's the thing… this biz is sometimes some risky shit, so if one or two officers go missing… well, we have a lotta rivals innit?" He grinned nastily.

Well, there was obviously no negotiating with _this_ particular human. Markus had no time to fully run his combat preconstruction, so he jumped in half instinctually. He dashed at the thug leader and the gun went off. Thankfully the aim was not true and it only clipped Markus in the shoulder. Enough to subdue a human, but it merely delayed the android a second or two. Markus was on the man and had him disarmed and knocked down before he could even so much as blink.

The two stooges quickly sprung to action themselves attacking Markus with their fists, but only one managed to actually commence with their attack, as Simon had snuck up to the other one and quickly took him in a chokehold. The one who attacked Markus was sloppy, so Markus had no problem parrying the blow knocking him out cold.

Suddenly a loud band reverberated in the landfill.

Simon and Markus turned towards the android that had been held hostage, their opponents now unconscious. The unarmed leader had had another gun and had planned to unload it on Markus, but the formerly captive android had not been sitting idle. The moment 'Marv' had pulled another gun the android had twisted his elbow, so the shot had gone through his head, from under his jaw.

For a moment there was a moment of eerie silence.

"Thank you." The android said. "If you hadn't come along these human would have bled me dry."

Markus pressed his lips together. Like with Zlatko, he didn't like seeing humans murdered. Even if it was in self defense. And just like with Zlatko, he pushed it to the back of his mind. He had other things to worry about right now.

"Are you alright?" He turned to the android.

The android nodded with a smile. "You two… you're from Jericho, aren't you?"

Both Markus and Simon nodded. "Yes. How did you know that?"

"So, Jericho _is_ real. I'd heard some rumors… but I wasn't sure." The android babbled excitedly. "I mean, I didn't know if there was really anything to run towards, so I stayed put, but after I was discarded I figured I should take my chances. But then these humans found me."

The three androids looked down at the three humans. One a corpse, the other two unconscious.

"What are we going to do with them?" Simon asked Markus.

Honestly, Markus had no clue. "I'm not sure we even should do anything." he tried.

"Markus, they've seen your face." Simon said seriously.

"They tried to _kill _me. Didn't even attempt to harvest thirium from the dead. Just went for it. I doubt I would've been the last one, either. Apparently 'live' thirium is better."

Markus frowned, processes working miles a second. He did not care one bit if those humans had seen his face. Humans did not have that good memories. But they did just attempt a murder, and what's more, it was something that they would've happily made into a frequent occurrence. Red Ice was a disgusting but lucrative business, and unfortunately thirium was an inseparable part of it. But if the landfill got a reputation of their agents going missing… well, that was the selling point to Markus. Not so much what he had to do now, but the impact.

Grimly Markus took the gun and shot both humans through the head.

"Justice." The android grinned.

"No, not justice." Markus admonished. "Never take any joy in bloodshed, no matter the color. This was not about what they did to you, but what they would have done in the future. If I thought they would have been amenable to changing their lifestyle, I would not have taken their lives."

"But… they were going to kill me." The android protested.

"And would you happily kill them in return?"

"They'd deserve it!"

"Perhaps. But where would you draw the line?"

"Until every last one who ever hurt our kind is dead!"

"How does that make you any better than them?"

That made the android clam up, the thought sinking in.

The three androids finished their harvest and made their way to Jericho.

* * *

"Hello, Lucy." Markus greeted, smiling at the KL900.

"And to you, Markus. You have been away for some time." Lucy smiled back. "How can I be of service?"

"Actually, I was hoping for some advice." Markus started. "It occurs to me that I never explained what I do when I'm not in Jericho. Well…"

Markus started talking about Carl. About his connection with him. Then he talked about Leo and his turbulent relationship with them. Finally he voiced his need for advice.

"So, Leo's not a bad kid, just has a ton of issues, the worst one being his addiction to Red Ice. I was hoping you might tell me the best way to-"

"Oh, tell me you're _shitting_ me!" Someone cried.

Markus jumped, startled out of his conversation with Lucy.

There was an android, Laura, glaring at Markus angrily.

That was when Markus noticed that just about everyone in the room had been eavesdropping in on his conversation with Lucy.

"You're saying… that you actually _want_ to help humans? That you _care_ for some of them?!" She hissed.

Markus looked around the room. Not everyone was as angry or judgmental as Laura. But every single one was curious.

"I don't hate humans. Do you?" Markus turned to Laura.

"Humans _hate_ _us_!" Laura hissed, looking a lot like an angry serpent.

"That isn't what I asked." Markus replied calmly. "Throughout their history humans have been senselessly killing each other over the color of their skin, or whatever god they wanted to worship. On the opposite end of the spectrum there was also been those who endured great hardship for their beliefs for the betterment of their species, and _succeed_. Androids have none of that history, but we were created in their image. What we are and what we will be is up to us. And I for one don't want to go down the path of hatred."

At the back of the room Simon smirked. He had been right. Markus' natural charisma was in full swing and cooling out their kin's heated emotions.

"Everyone in this room, myself included, has suffered at the hands of humans in one way or another. But I refuse to believe that I am the only one who has had positive interactions with them. Humans are capable of both great cruelty and great kindness. We have shared many stories about how horrible they are, perhaps it's time to start paying attention to the positive too."

After Markus' great speech there was a pregnant pause.

"Er, a human helped me up once." A male TR400, Fyodor, said.

Everyone turned to him.

"I mean, I was doing construction work in the dead of winter and I slipped on ice. There was this girl, a slip of a thing really, who offered a hand to get me to my feet. I wasn't hurt or anything, and she could've just walked passed me, but she stopped to offer a hand. It was… kinda nice." Fyodor blushed at the attention.

The story itself was made impressive by the fact that TR400s, the same model as Luther, were hulking beasts. To think that a little girl had tried to help someone like Fyodor to his feet again was a bit adorable. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

After that it was like a dam had broken. The androids turned to each other in whispers, contemplating human behavior.

Markus turned back to Lucy, hoping to gain some insight how to handle Leo's situation. What he got was a half a dozen androids joining in on the conversation, hoping to give Markus their own two cents. The result was a massive debate between androids with psychology programming that left Markus as confused as it gave him ideas.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not sure how content I am with this chapter. Originally I wasn't going to throw in the landfill scene, but without it the chapter seemed too dialogue heavy to me. No matter, Red Ice and their dealers are going to be a background problem for androids anyway. I mean, how can they not? The main component is **_**android blood**_**. One way or another there's going to be humans assaulting androids for thirium.**

**And for the love of god, please tell me if there's something that bugs you about this fic. I can't make improvements if I can't see my flaws.**

**Kudos to anyone who recognized the Harry Potter reference.**


	5. How to Help a Former Junkie

**A/N: So, this handles some things I found personally irksome. Not about the gameplay itself, and the characters themselves are fine, so it isn't even nitpicking. This is about RL people. Ever watch YouTube videos where Carl or Leo were featured? Carl tends to get a lot of love and Leo gets a shit-ton of flak in the comments. Am I SERIOUSLY the only one who took a look at Carl's attitude and went 'well, that's not right'? I'm from a very stable family and admittedly my personal experience with drugs is extremely limited, and with addiction it's even more so. But I do have common sense and I know that when someone you care about is going through a rough patch in their life (i.e. addiction) you try to help them, or at least be there for them. The last thing you want to do is tell them to 'get out'. Carl, honey, you may have been a good dad to Markus, but you didn't even try with Leo.**

**There was a literal quote from Leo 'you refused to help me, so I'm helping myself'. Kid may have been talking about money, but he did have a point. That was a cry for help! Carl didn't try to help him actively, instead doing it passively by not enabling him. That would only work if a person is already committed to sobriety, but addicts who **_**aren't,**_** and are instead dead set on their next fix, are known to do **_**desperate**_** things to buy their drugs. Prostitution and theft are two of the most common responses. Lo and behold the latter is exactly what Leo tried to do!**

**So, about the YouTube comments about Leo being the biggest bitch in existence? Oh, my god! The kid is desperate and is practically crying out for help and the one thing his dad does is say 'get out' to his face?! And the only response he got from general viewers was 'ugh I hate Leo he's the worst'. To me that seems **_**almost**_** as bad as slut shaming a rape victim! Sure he got confrontational and refused to accept responsibility for his own actions, but he **_**did**_** have his reasons, shit as they were.**

**Oh, wow. Did not expect to go on that tirade. Anyway, guess what I'm saying is, if you have someone you care about who's struggling with addiction, **_**don't**_** just sit on your ass and do nothing but complain or stew in silence. Get active and get them help!**

**PS. Special shoutout to RuthieToothie, for being my first reviewer. Thanks hon, you made my week.**

* * *

Markus felt nervous. The conversation with Lucy and the others gave Markus a rough draft of a plan about how to best help Leo. Before returning home he did something he _knew_ was going to royally tick off Leo, but Markus was determined to see it through anyway. He was sure this was the correct way. Or the _only_ way he could ensure Leo's continued safety at least. Even if it meant earning his ire.

Morning at the Manfred house started much the same way as it had the past week. Markus made breakfast and the humans ate in awkward silence. Attempts at conversation were made. Followed by more silence. Usually the conversation started with a 'so, dad/Leo/Markus…' followed by a clunky sentence, followed by a fake cheerful reply, followed by no one knowing what to say next, followed by even more uncomfortable silence.

"So, Leo…" Markus started. Oh, lord, here we go. "Well, the house lockdown is lifted, but-"

Leo let his utensils fall on his plate. He threw his head back with a relieved sigh.

"Oh, thank _fuck_! Look, dad, thanks for putting up with me for the past week, but I'll get back home now, okay?"

Markus cleared his throat unnecessarily, mentally preparing himself for the shit-show he _knows_ is going to commence soon.

"Leo, the last thing you need is to be alone right now. I can help you pack up your belongings, or you can do it by yourself if you don't feel comfortable with me in your apartment. The house is open and you can come and go at your leisure… but you're staying here for the foreseeable future." Markus told Leo in a gentle but firm tone.

Leo's eyebrows knitted together and he gave Markus a displeased sneer. Being a recovering Red Ice addict, Leo's behavior was unpredictable at the best of times. Sometimes he was perfectly composed and amicable, despite not liking Markus much, other times he was liable to fly off the handle in a fit of rage. Markus still didn't know what Leo would be like without the influence of drugs in his system, but he liked to believe Leo was not a naturally violent person. So far Leo _had_ made active attempts to stay civil, stilted as they were.

"I'm _fine_." Leo forced through his gritted teeth, making an attempt to stay cordial for Carl's sake "I've been away from my apartment long enough. I'd like to get home to look over my sketches."

Outward Markus remained perfectly composed, inward he was making mental preparations for the shit-show he knew was going to commence _now_.

"I have contacted your landlady and ended your lease." Markus just _ripped_ that band-aid off.

Leo's face went blank, taking a few seconds for his brain to actually catch up with what Markus had declared.

"YOU DID FUCKING WHAT?!"

Leo sprung up from his seat, the chair tipping over and clattering to the ground behind him. He made strangled noises, gaping, completely at a loss of what to say next.

"Leo, I know you don't want to believe it, but-" Markus began, but was interrupted when Leo flat out slugged him in the face, then ran out of the room, cursing up a storm. He ran upstairs, no doubt to get ready to leave for his apartment.

That… actually went better than Markus had anticipated. It didn't end up with Markus having to incapacitate Leo, at least. Markus had seen the punch coming a mile away, and could have stopped it, but had opted to deliberately do nothing. Leo was understandably upset and Markus had hoped that Leo might calm down a bit after taking a swing. He didn't, but he wasn't making any more attempts at violence either. Also, Markus felt he might kind of deserve it. Making life decisions for a grown ass man, and invading their sense of privacy, is a bitter pill to swallow, no matter how sorely it is needed.

Markus exhaled. If he had been human his nerves would be buzzing right now. As it is, he imagined he actually felt a static current go through his body in some kind of nervous energy equivalent.

"Markus." Carl called quietly.

Markus turned to the wheelchair bound man. Carl had a look of silent disapproval that Markus had seen before, but never directed at _him_. It was a bit disconcerting to experience.

"That… may have been a little too much." Carl said, his tone still low.

Markus sighed in a somewhat defeated manner. "Perhaps it was, but I do not regret my actions." He maintained his position.

"Markus, Leo does not want to stay here. He's made that perfectly clear."

Markus turned to Carl, preparing to undertake another unpleasant task.

"This isn't about what Leo wants_._ It's about what he _needs_."

In order for Markus to truly help Leo he needed to address a very big issue in Leo's life. His father. Carl himself.

*sigh*

Markus' words seemed to strike a chord in the old man. He had a look of surprise, then a pained contemplation.

"You think I need to force a more proactive role in my son's life."

It wasn't much of a question, but Markus replied anyway.

"Yes." He said simply, with no preamble whatsoever.

Carl hummed sadly, then turned to look at Markus straight in the eye.

"Markus, do you think I've been a bad father to Leo?" He asked directly.

Markus almost physically flinched at the question. On one hand this touched an issue that he definitely needed to address with both Manfreds, in order for both of them to heal and grow as a family. On the other hand Markus fretted over how well Carl's weakened constitution could take the stress.

"Do you want me to answer honestly?" Markus asked.

Carl gave a displeased grunt at his reply. He fixed Markus with a glare.

"I may be old, and you're used to handling me with care. But don't you _dare_ patronize me, Markus. _Ever_. I asked you a question, and I do want you to be upfront with me." Carl's tone never rose, but the disapproval in it was unmistakable.

Markus nodded, accepting the chastisement. He grabbed Leo's fallen chair and pulled it next to Carl. He wanted to be more eye-to-eye with Carl for this conversation. He sat down and prepared himself for this overdue conversation.

"No, Carl, I don't think you've been a bad father to Leo… specifically." He started cautiously.

There was a minute twitch in Carl's eyebrow. He had not expected Markus to say that, but he was clever enough to realize that it was not quite this simple either.

"But you have not been a good one to him either." Markus continued.

Carl nodded, indicating for Markus to continue.

"In fact… you have not been much of a father to him at all." He finished.

Carl's eyebrows rose up. He took a moment to mull the words. Then turned back to Markus.

"Alright. Can you be more specific with your thoughts?" Carl asked. His tone was not confrontational or defensive.

Seeing as this track was not causing Carl _too_ much stress, Markus felt more confident in airing his thoughts and questions.

"Carl, why didn't you ever have contact with Leo before he was sixteen?"

Immediately Carl pulled a face. This was clearly not a question he wanted to answer. But Markus was not asking out of idle curiosity, and Carl knew it.

"Honestly? That question doesn't have a straight _or_ a satisfactory answer." He started, the memories clearly not something he liked dredging up. "My fling with Vivienne, passionate as it was, was brief. We both knew it would not last from the very beginning, accepted it even. Leo's conception was completely unexpected for the both of us, and without him it is very likely we would have had no contact with each other after the affair was over."

Markus nodded along, waiting for Carl to continue.

"When she contacted me about her pregnancy… well, it was quite a shock. I can describe it no better. I don't know if Vivienne ever considered abortion, but by the time she announced her pregnancy to me she had already made up her mind to keep him. Heh. That was so like her." A look of nostalgia, and perhaps fondness, washed over Carl.

"Vivienne was a fan, but she was also so… unique. She was so _passionate_, full of life. And I have never met _anyone_ who both loved and avoided drama quite like her before. She stirred it up. She reveled in it. But she didn't like it when it got personal."

Markus wasn't sure if he would describe that as 'unique', but gave Carl the benefit of the doubt. He continued to listen in silence.

"I don't remember how far along she was when she told me she was expecting, but I remember I had almost forgotten about her, so it wasn't _that_ short a period. She may have been classed as a 'groupie', but sleeping around randomly didn't seem her style. She had more class than that. I did believe her, but I remember asking for a paternity test anyway." Carl chuckled. "There was no messing about, she just said 'okay' and that she would raise him, but expected child support. Do you know how many women would've balked at the thought of a paternity test just for the principle of the though? The next time I heard from her was just after Leo's birth."

Markus had to concede the point. He had recently come to understand pride and humility better, to a degree having experienced them personally. Warranted or not getting asked for a paternity test should've at least stung enough to earn a snarky comment.

"She didn't mess about, just told me I had a son, asked me how much child support I was going to hash out, and if I had any requests what _not_ to name him." Carl chuckled. "I told her no, so long as it isn't anything that could get him potentially beat up at school, and that I wouldn't mind him having my name. I was kind of joking, but she gave Leo my last name anyway. I guess she still very much liked my art and didn't mind Leo being a 'Manfred'. After that we still had each other's contact information, but no actual contact. I sent Vivienne her checks and Leo a birthday and Christmas gifts every year. Until Leo contacted me himself shortly after his sixteenth."

Markus frowned thoughtfully, one thing bothering him about the story. His original question.

"Did Vivienne not want you to have contact with Leo?"

Carl shook his head. "She made no attempts to get us to meet beyond the one time I saw him when he was born, but I doubt she would've had any issue with me wanting to see Leo."

This was the answer Markus had expected, but he _still_ couldn't figure out the why. He really didn't want to keep poking at this sore subject, but he needed to know the answers.

"Why, Carl? Why didn't you make any attempts to be there for your own son?"

"Word it like _that_, why don't you." Carl let his head fall with a huff, staring up at the ceiling testily. He wasn't cross at Markus, more irked at himself. "To be blunt… cowardice and anxiousness."

Carl turned to look at Markus again, continuing with his confession.

"It was never because I didn't want to be there, I did. But I had no idea how to _be_ a father, so I was nervous. I wanted to take the plunge and just call him, but I had no idea what to say or do. Simply paralyzed by indecision and as a result I did nothing."

Markus nodded in acceptance. He didn't approve, but felt it wasn't his place to make judgments either. He didn't personally know what it was like to have an estranged child you had no idea how to connect with. You can't change the past, so what mattered now was where they went from there.

There was some clunking and the front door slammed loudly. Leo had finally left the house.

Carl and Markus sat in a silence for a moment, letting the empty house just breathe.

"What are we going to do about Leo? I doubt he would be willing to give up his apartment to come live with us. If he talks to his proprietor…" Carl begun, but Markus waved the concern off.

"That part's fine. I called Leo's landlady and told her the truth. I explained how Leo is struggling with addiction and thus it would be better if he stayed with family indefinitely. She was very understanding and gave Leo a week to move all his stuff out. And I wouldn't worry about him talking her into letting him continue his lease. She's not very keen on keeping a junkie in her building, recovering or not."

Carl hummed. "And you are certain he has nowhere else to go?"

"If he does have friends to stay with I am perfectly willing to make an utter nuisance of myself, until he's kicked out, out of sheer annoyance." Markus vowed solemnly.

Carl burst into chuckles. "Alright, fair enough. That takes care of that, but that's only the beginning. Tell me, what did your psychiatrist friends tell you? I assume you did ask them for advice, which is the reason for your sudden meddling in Leo's private life."

Markus nodded. "Yes, they did tell me some things. What, exactly, isn't important. What is important for you to hear is what _you_ are going to have to do."

"Me?" Carl asked, paying Markus his full undivided attention.

"Yes. Cutting Leo off from his supply and keeping a close eye on him is all well and good, but that doesn't mean too much if Leo himself has no will to actually commit to staying sober." Markus explained.

"That shouldn't be a problem. Despite the relapses, Leo has made several attempts to stay clean, so obviously he _does_ have the will." Carl replied.

"Well… yes, but that wasn't what I was alluding to. You're going to have to give Leo incentive."

Carl looked puzzled. He cocked his head in thought, then shook it in confusion. "I thought I already had. I cut him off whenever he dips back into his unsavory habits."

Markus wanted to let his head bang against the table in frustration. This is _precisely_ what the problem was.

"Carl, no! I'm not talking about _anything_ material." Markus started gently, but firmly. "Leo doesn't need more or less money. He needs _you._ Your support. Your love."

Carl's face scrunched into a constipated look. "How? He doesn't want anything to do with me. What am I supposed to do?" He bemoaned.

"_Literally anything!_" Markus burst. "You're wrong thinking Leo wants you only for a paycheck! He may act like it because that's all you've ever really given him! Just like you, he doesn't know how to reach out, but he wants to. _Just. Like. You_. Trust me, I've seen it in you both."

Carl reeled back, taken aback by the normally sweet tempered android's sudden outburst.

"Ask him about his work. Ask him if he has a girlfriend. Ask him if he fancies someone if he doesn't have a girlfriend. Hell, ask him out to the movies, or go to a gallery. Just… _anything!_ Ask anything to promote father-son bonding." Markus finished with a huff.

Carl hummed sadly. "Do you really think it's that easy? That Leo would accept any of that?" Carl's voice cracked in the end.

"Never said it would be easy." Markus replied, having calmed down back to his usual self. "But it _is_ that simple. Possibly he will even reject you. But that's why you'll need to be persistent. I believe you both will be better off for it later, dad."

Carl fell silent, just staring at his lap in contemplation.

"Take me to the studio, Markus. And please leave me there alone. I need to think about what you said." He finally said.

Markus nodded and stood up to do just as Carl requested.

* * *

It was hours until Leo finally returned home. Markus had to admit to relief. He had worried that Carl may have been right and Leo had decided to crash at a friend's place. It was good that Markus didn't have to track him down again.

Leo went straight at Markus, his eyes furious.

"You motherfucking tin can!" He snarled. "Just who the hell do you think you are, huh?!" Leo confronted Markus.

"Someone who cares about your health." Markus replied bluntly yet gently.

Leo stood back and threw his arms up in frustration.

"You're an _android!_" He cried out. "You don't _care_ about anything, you-" Leo stopped himself with a vexed sigh and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What the hell did my dad tell you that you _actually_ went and ratted to my landlady? Just… what the fuck, man? Did dad actually tell you to do that?"

Markus smiled at Leo's attempt to reign in his temper. He seemed more exasperated than angry now.

"No. Not directly at least. He wants what's best for you, Leo, he really does. And I don't want to see you suffer either. I found the best way to help you was to make sure you're close by. That was _my_ prerogative, not dad's."

Leo sent Markus a long, steady stare until he snorted and rolled his eyes. "Prerogative, my ass. You just follow programs and act based on orders. So, dad _must've_ said something to make you glitch out like this. Androids don't get prerogatives."

Markus sent Leo a cryptic smile "That you know of."

Leo's brows pulled together. "You're so weird." He grumbled irritably. "Well, since you're the one who blatantly caused my homelessness, you can help me haul all my shit here, tomorrow." He finally huffed.

"I'd be happy to." Markus smiled.

Progress. That's progress.

* * *

Getting Leo's belongings to Lafayette Avenue turned out to be a bit trickier than Markus had initially predicted, but in retrospect he should not have been surprised. For one thing Leo's apartment was quite cluttered and packing everything took more time than expected. On the first day they didn't even get to moving his stuff over, instead they just packed things into boxes.

But what delayed them the most was the fact that Leo was a vindictive little shit. While they packed Leo took to subtly and not so subtly sabotaging potentially anything Markus did, in the form of tiny mean spirited pranks. It ranged from shoulder checks (that honestly hurt Leo more that Markus), and tripping him whenever they passed each other. That Markus actually did find annoying, but only if he happened to be carrying anything. He was afraid he might accidentally break something. Then there was the honey. Oh, the _honey!_ Leo took to smearing poorly visible places with honey in hopes that Markus would mess up his hands. And a few times that actually worked!

Overall, the pranks were pesky, but harmless. Markus chose to give Leo this one and endured them with dignity. He felt that because he essentially got Leo kicked out of his own apartment Leo deserved a little bit retribution. At least he wasn't regressing to outright violence, and Markus considered that progress.

"How was the day? Did you get a lot done?" Carl asked the pair as they finally got home.

"Meh." Leo shrugged. "Turns out I have so much shit I have no need for that I'm throwing it all out. We'll go back tomorrow." He said flippantly. "Anyway, I'm going out."

Markus glanced at Leo sharply. He wasn't comfortable letting Leo out by himself just yet, in case he's going hunting for Red Ice again.

"Oh? Do you have somewhere specific to be?" Carl asked innocently. He likely had the same concerns as Markus.

"Nah, not really. Just a bit stir-crazy, that's all. I _was _stuck in this house for a straight week." Leo shrugged again, deliberately ignorantly. But he knew exactly what they were thinking.

"Oh, good. I was hoping to take a walk in the park, and I would like you to join me." Carl smiled brightly.

Leo tensed and Markus nearly raised an eyebrow. Was Carl really taking Markus's words to heart? Leo didn't feel nearly as hopeful as Markus, however. In fact he felt suspicious and paranoid.

"Me? To the park? … Why?" He asked warily.

"Because I'm an old man and fresh air does me good." Carl laughed, his expression carefree and fond. "And I would like you to join me."

Leo looked very unsure of himself, shuffling his feet and wringing his hands together, eyes downcast and not making contact.

"Um, you sure you don't want to take your android? Ammean… hetakes care ofyou and… stuff…" Leo mumbled.

"I'm sure Markus wouldn't mind taking me for a stroll, but I'm asking you." Carl stated clearly.

Leo's head snapped up, eyes wide and bewildered.

"I-I'm not sure… I'm-" He stammered.

"I think that's a great idea!" Markus cut in cheerfully. "It's a nice, warm, cloudless evening, no rain or wind in the forecast. You could do with a nice walk. Here, here's my number, in case you or Carl need anything." His LED spun yellow and he sent his contact info into Leo's phone.

It broke Markus's heart to see Leo so insecure about Carl, that he was unsure to take even a simple visit to the park with the old man. That was why Markus didn't give Leo any time to process or refuse. He cheerfully ushered them both out of the house before Leo could so much as make a peep and shut the door behind them resolutely.

He spied out of the window to make sure they really did leave together. He saw Carl roll ahead a bit and then turn back towards Leo. '_Well, are you going to make me push myself the entire way'_ Markus read on Carl's lips as he smiled at his son mischievously. That got Leo moving. He took the handles of his father's wheelchair and the two left the lot.

Markus really hoped they'd have a chance to successfully bond.

* * *

Or give Markus a heart attack due to anxiety!

The two have stayed out a lot longer than Markus expected. The sky had darkened and they still hadn't made it back. Considering it was late June it was quite an accomplishment.

On one hand it might mean that the outing was a raging success and Markus didn't want to mess that up by interfering. On the other hand something bad could have happened and all Markus had done was sit at home with his thumb up his ass. The not knowing was driving him up the wall!

He took to tracking Leo's phone via GPS. It was all he could do at the moment. So far they had gone nowhere unsavory; in fact they hadn't gone very far at all. It had started with the park, as expected, then gravitated to a café, then back to the park, then to a bistro where they stayed a considerable amount of time, then back to the park. By then it had gotten dark already.

And… ah, _finally_ they seemed to be making their way home.

Markus stood in the foyer anxiously, completely still. It was probably the first time he had been this motionless since his deviance. Waiting on his human without the ability to acknowledge how boring that actually was. Heh, what a time to get nostalgic about his slavehood.

The voices reached the house before the actual humans. They chatted away, cheerful, laughing. The door opened and Leo pushed the wheelchair in. His face was relaxed and eyes twinkling. It was the first time Markus had ever seen him genuinely smiling.

"Welcome home." Markus greeted.

"Oh, Markus." Carl said cheerfully, acknowledging the android. Leo didn't say anything to him, but it was a testament to his good mood that the corners of his lips stayed curled upwards, and even Markus's presence didn't make his scowl.

"I hope you two had a good outing." Markus said politely, but honestly he was just fishing for information, not merely being courteous.

"I paid for everything!" Leo chortled and looked at his father pointedly, as if sharing a private joke.

Carl glanced back at Leo and chuckled.

"I have gotten used to you taking care of all my transactions, therefore I forgot my wallet at home." He explained with a grin.

Markus' eyebrows rose up, as did the corners of his lips. "So I see." He commented.

Carl probably did still have his wallet in the house… somewhere. But it had been a long time since he had had any need of it. He even hadn't had a use for an ID, since most places he went to he was already known.

"I made dinner, but it has long since gone cold. So I packed up the leftovers. It's late, but would you like me to reheat them?" Markus inquired. They probably didn't, since they had already eaten at the bistro, but no way in hell was Markus going to admit to spying on them.

"Nah, we're good. Ate out." Leo said then stretched with a yawn. "Man, I'm beat. Think I'm gonna hit the sack."

"Indeed. We should both head to sleep now." Carl agreed. "Goodnight, Leo."

Leo waved his goodnight and bound up the stairs, with Carl and Markus following in a slightly more sedate pace due to Carl's handicap. As Markus got Carl ready for bed and was tucking him in, he dared to voice his curiosity.

"So? How was it?"

Carl hummed happily as he snuggled into his pillows.

"I'm glad you pushed for this, Markus." He yawned. "I don't think we've ever just… sat and talked like that. Not since we first met. And that was always shadowed with nerves and anxiety." He yawned again.

Markus smiled slightly. "I'm truly glad it went like that. You can tell me more about it later, but right now you should get your zees."

"Night, Markus." Carl muttered and was soon out like a light.

"Sweet dreams, dad."

Markus left the room in high spirits. So far, he could not have planned for things to have gone as well as they did. But this was only the beginning, and he was leery to leave the house at this point. Unfortunately, he did also have other responsibilities he was hesitant to neglect. He contacted Simon.

"_Hi, Markus. How did it go?"_ Simon asked as soon as the call connected.

"_Go? How did what go what?"_ Markus asked, perplexed. He had called to check up, to know he wasn't specifically needed for the time being.

"_With your humans! It's all everyone's been talking about, here."_ Simon sighed, sounding both amused and exasperated. _"Started off with general discussions about human psychology, but it sort of… evolved. You wouldn't believe how philosophical Jericho's gotten. It always circles back to you and your humans, though. I think the androids here are living vicariously through you, since we don't have much of a life beyond the freighter. So, come on, spill!"_

"_Oh. Well… pretty well so far, actually."_

Shaking off the shock Markus quickly filled Simon in about the events so far, starting from his ballsy decision to force Leo to move in with them, to the events that led to the father-son bonding outing.

"_Your actions are approved of, but you should also be cautious. Getting Leo to live with you is all well and good, even if the methods you used were poor. It's imperative you try to build trust between you two now."_ Simon said after Markus was done with his tale.

"_Are approved of?'"_ Markus echoed in puzzlement, but then it clicked. _"You're broadcasting our conversation, aren't you?"_

"_Yes." _Simon stated frankly, entirely unrepentant.

Markus snorted in amusement at his friend's cheek.

"_Alright then. So, I'm advised to foster trust in Leo? That's going to be easier said than done."_

Lucy butted into the conversation. _"Since most of Leo's hostility towards you stems from his jealousy over your relationship with your father, it is not as hopeless as you might believe, granted their relationship keeps improving."_

Alright, Markus conceded that.

"_Very well, then. Thank you. Anyway another point I need to discuss: how is Jericho? For now I'm afraid to leave home for extended periods of time, but I don't want to leave you on your own either."_

At that Simon flat out chuckled.

"_Markus, if you were human, I'd be afraid you'll give yourself an ulcer, worrying about everyone around you. We're fine, there are no immediate concerns you need to fret over."_

"_You have enough parts and thirium to last?"_

"_Unless we'll get a sudden influx of refugees we're good. There's been an increase of supply runners recently, so you needn't worry about that."_

"_The freighter's been steadily filling up. Do-"_

"_Yes, we have the guard rotations. So far no one's paid us any mind."_

"_What of Zlatko's?"_

"_They're fine as far as supplies go. Though… if there's one thing you could do, if you absolutely can get away, is a visit for moral support. Luther reports there are a few whose stress levels are consistently higher than he's comfortable with. Your visits and talks seem to be soothing. However, it is also nothing urgent, or life threatening, so don't get worked up."_

"_Alright. But what about-"_

"_MARKUS! Calm. Down. If there's anything urgent I'll let you know. Right now I believe you're needed elsewhere more than here. Okay?"_

Markus couldn't help a twinge of pride in his chest. Their situation is still far from ideal, but they had come a long way from about a dozen androids sitting in the dark, waiting to die. Now they numbered in the hundreds, and had a rudimentary support system, with an embryonic but rapidly developing culture unique to their race. The freighter itself was also going through overhaul inside. Sections were being cleared of rubble to make it safer to navigate and attempts were made to make it generally cozier to live in. The room where Markus first met the squatters had become a sort of a central area, a meeting place, the beating heart of Jericho.

Hard to believe it had been just **two months** since Markus first literally fell onto them. Felt like it had been longer than that. Other days it felt like it hadn't been that long at all.

* * *

Leo permanently moving in was a big adjustment to all parties involved. Not all of it was easy, but Markus truly believed that they all would be better off for it. The packing up of Leo's apartment went off without too many notable complications. With the exception of Leo's sketches and calculations. He absolutely did not permit Markus to touch anything, sure he would mess everything up. Leo had such a chaotic way of organizing his work that even an android like Markus couldn't begin to make heads or tail of it. So perhaps he had a point.

So all they had left now was acclimate to living together. It wasn't always easy and Markus developed some anxiety over not being able to sneak out as often anymore. Carl and Leo's relationship continued to mend, usually the best when Markus made himself scarce. Life went on.

Without even noticing July arrived and with it a problem with Leo started to rear its ugly head.

It was nighttime and Markus had planned on sneaking out that night, but the plans were postponed since Leo was not asleep that night. He had casually made himself a cup of tea and was reading a book on the couch in the living room, wearing fuzzy slippers and comfort clothes.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Markus asked him when the clock struck 4am.

"Probably." Leo just shrugged. "Can't though." He said flippantly and turned a page on his book.

Markus left it be. If Leo wanted to chill out one night he was welcome to do so. Markus could sneak out some other night.

At least that was what Markus thought before Leo did it three nights in a row. What was worse, Leo did not catch up on his sleep during the day either. He continuously stayed awake three nights and days in a row! The dark circles under his eyes were a testament to that. Since the stunt with Leo's living arrangements Markus had tried to foster goodwill while still maintaining Leo's independence by not prying much into his affairs. However Leo's apparent insomnia worried Markus to the point where he chose to ignore Leo's sense of privacy and confront Leo about it with Carl as a witness and a potential buffer.

He chose dinnertime to do it.

"How's the lasagna?" He asked the humans as a way to break the ice.

Leo shot Markus an annoyed look. "Stop fishing for compliments. You know full well your food's always prepared for perfection."

Well, if that wasn't the most backhanded compliment Markus had ever received.

"Leo…" Carl chided, but he had a smile on his face and he looked fond. His and Leo's relationship had developed a lot over the short time and Markus could not be more relieved.

"Hn. Well, do you think you will go to sleep after dinner?" Markus asked faux nonchalantly. Not very subtle, but at this point he didn't care.

"Probably not." Leo replied with a dispassionate shrug.

"You haven't caught much sleep lately. Maybe you should postpone whatever you're doing for a later time." Carl said, unsurprisingly having cottoned on to Leo's insomnia.

Markus was ever grateful for that. Leo relationship with both Carl and Markus was still a bit tumultuous, but he was definitely more receptive to Carl than Markus. He might be more likely to open up to or obey his father.

"Doesn't matter, I can't sleep." Leo replied, still as blasé as before.

"Leo, I've fallen into this trap a few times myself, but even at your age it isn't healthy to-"

"Dad, I mean I _literally_ can't sleep."

Both Carl and Markus clammed up at that, trying to understand what Leo meant by that. Leo rolled his eyes at their inquisitive gazes.

"It's a symptom of Red Ice withdrawal." He finally clarified.

"Insomnia is a symptom of withdrawal?" Markus asked, his eyebrows raised high in surprise.

Leo snorted. "Yeah, genius. Insomnia is a common withdrawal symptom for a Red Ice addict. Boy, nothing ever gets past those keen robo-powered observations of yours, does it?" He snarked.

"Have you seen a doctor about it?" Carl asked, concerned.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Dad, I've been through this several times. Not my first rodeo, remember? It's why your android had me kicked out of my apartment."

"I can contact Carl's family physician for a checkup. Perhaps he can impart some advice to you." Markus offered.

"I've talked to doctors in rehab. There's not much to do besides weathering out the storm. Seriously, a few days and it's over. It comes and goes, y'know."

"Leo…"

"Just _drop it_, okay?! There's nothing a doctor can do for me at this point." Leo barked out, finally losing a handle on his temper.

Carl and Markus clammed up at that.

Hmm, perhaps a different approach was needed here.

"It would be for Carl's peace of mind." Markus said. "Perhaps there is nothing that could be done, but we'd get reassurance that you're otherwise generally in good health."

Carl nodded "I would like to be sure you're healthy."

Leo stared incredulously, then threw hands up in exasperated surrender. "Fine! Call the damn doctor! Jeez, what _are_ you teaching your android, dad? He must be the only tin can to use emotional blackmail like that."

* * *

Dr. Reid was a tall and pale man, with a deep, sonorous voice that still came off as soothing. He had been Carl's family physician since before Markus was born. While Carl had needed to see specialists when he had lost the use of his legs, Dr. Reid still retained his role taking care of his general health whenever the need arose. He was a personal physician to several high end patients and home visits were not an uncommon occurrence for him. Therefore it did not take long for Markus to arrange an appointment.

The doorbell rang and Markus opened the door for Dr. Reid.

"Welcome, Dr. Reid. We're so glad you were able to make time so quickly." Markus bowed as he ushered the doctor in.

"Hello, Markus. I trust Carl is in good health." Reid replied, ever polite.

"Relatively speaking, yes. But he isn't the reason we called you."

"Indeed. Where is my new patient?"

Markus led the doctor into the living room where Leo and Carl were watching TV. Leo sighed as he looked at the newcomer.

"Alright. Let's get this over with."

"And hello to you too, young man." Dr. Reid replied drily, but wasted no more time getting to work.

He took Leo's temperature, a sample of his hair and blood, listened to his heart and inquired about his general history. Finally he got to the crux of his visit.

"And how long have you been using?" He asked, tone completely free of judgment.

Leo shrugged. "First time I tried it I was… I think about fourteen or fifteen. Since then it's been pretty on again off again." He said flippantly, but Markus could tell he was uncomfortable admitting it in front of his father. Even if it wasn't anything Carl didn't know about already.

Dr. Reid hummed and nodded.

"How long do your insomnia bouts usually last, and how often do they occur?"

"Fuck, I don't know. I never keep count, since it's not always the same. Could be anywhere from two days to two weeks."

Markus winced in sympathy. Two weeks of no sleep (or equivalent to sleep) was nothing to an android, but to a human it would be like taking sandpaper to their sanity.

"I see. The bouts can vary from person to person, also depending on their general health. People with weaker constitution generally are reported to suffer from more severe side effects. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. You're telling me your bouts are erratic?"

"Yeah. Sounds about right."

"Very well. And your cravings? How often do they spike?"

Leo flinched and looked away. Carl looked concerned.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

Dr. Reid glanced at Carl as Leo clenched his fist.

"At this point for Leo the cravings would be constant, steadily easing up as time passes. But there are brief points where they spike and become almost unbearable." He explained. "That's the most challenging hurdle for a Red Ice addict to overcome. Any addiction would be difficult to overcome at the best of times. But if your will has been chipped away by insomnia and you experience a sudden craving spike… well, that's the reason why people clean for years fall back into using Red Ice. And they _can_ happen years after going clean. Truly an insidious drug."

Markus remembered when Leo last came to ask for money from Carl. It was likely one such example. He couldn't help but feel utter pity for the human.

Leo huffed, clearly not wanting to discuss this, but stubbornly pressing on. "Probably not as often as some others. I dunno, every few months? Haven't experienced one yet since my last high."

"That was seventeen days ago." Markus piped up, earning a nod from Dr. Reid and an annoyed look from Leo.

"I see. Well, I'll go have your blood analyzed for anomalies, unless I find anything odd I'll not contact you. I will prescribe you cannabis for the worst spikes, but otherwise there isn't anything much I can do at this point. Going cold turkey and soldiering it out is all you can do at this point."

"Cannabis?" Markus, Leo and Carl all asked in unison.

(Cannabis has been a legal drug for over a decade, but only if you were prescribed it by a doctor for a specific reason. In the US you couldn't get it over the counter.)

Dr. Reid looked at Leo in surprise. "You haven't been prescribed any before?"

Leo shook his head no.

"I see." Dr. Reid said sourly, looking rather displeased. "Cannabis has been known to take the edge off when the cravings spike, and is regularly prescribed to recovering addicts as far as I know. I'm surprised you don't know this."

"I've been to rehab once. No one's ever mentioned this." Leo shrugged, but for the first time he was not as nonchalant as before. He was actually interested in what the good doctor had to say.

"Really? Only once? You've partaken since you were around fifteen, you're twenty-seven now, you've had several somewhat successful attempts to quit _Red Ice_, without the use of cannabis, and you've only been to rehab _once_? Color me impressed." Dr. Reid said, his tone humorous, but not unkind.

"Anyway, as I said before, cannabis has been known to take the edge off the worst cravings, but it _is_ still a psychedelic drug itself. I'd recommend its use only when absolutely necessary. Also, while there are some favorable reports about its effect on insomnia, the reports have been… shall we say, unreliable. I'd recommend you ride this bout of insomnia out and try it out the next time it strikes. If there is favorable effect to your sleep patterns, you may use them for that as well, but I doubt there are. Also, I would like to hear how your insomnia reacts to cannabis treatment."

"Um, thanks?" Leo said hesitantly.

"Of course. At any rate, there is nothing else. I would like to check up on you again in one month. Unless there's an anomaly in your blood, in which case I'll let you know. Take care, young man."

* * *

**A/N: There is not much information about Leo's mom canonically. Pretty much all that is known is that she was one of Carl's admirers and the two had a 'brief but passionate' affair that ended up with the creation of Leo. The two had little contact after that, Carl paid hefty child support, but the two didn't meet until Leo was sixteen. Enter headcanon!**

**So, the actor who played Leo is Paul Spera. He's French-American, so I'm kind of basing the mom to be one after that. No name has been officially given, so Vivienne it is. The French name 'Vivienne' means 'alive', and I find it very fitting for a passionate woman like that. Also, she's named after 'Madame de Fer' Vivienne from **_**Dragon Age: Inquisition**_**. She was a shrewd, cold-blooded woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it, and I absolutely hate her. In other words it fits.**

**I plan for her to make an appearance later on, but she won't have much of an impact as a character, rather she'll be a bit of a plot device.**

**PS. Dr. Jonathan Reid. Bwahahahaha! Did anyone get it?**


End file.
